The Insiders

Chapter 12

Chapter 12- Sharlene

I gasp and run towards Joy as fast as I can. Once I reach her I sit down on my knees.

" Joy, what happened?" I ask desperately. Her breathing is shallow and shaky. She doesn't reply. She's coughing up blood. Joy slowly begins to lift her hand. I grab it and hold it tight as if I'm the one dying. I finally get a good look at her. The puddle of blood around her is coming from a cut in her throat. She has rope marks on her writs and ankles.

" How did this-" I begin to say but I stop as her hand goes limp. I slowly rest her hand back onto the ground. I get closer to Joy on my knees and put my hands in fists and begin CPR.

" Help!" I scream as loud as I can. I look up and down the empty halls. I continue my chest compressions. I continue yelling for what feels like hours. Finally a tall boy with dark hair and skin opens his door on the other side of Joy.

" Shut-" He begins to say with a furious face. He stops as soon as he sees Joy and the blood. His face slowly goes emotionless. He stops dead in his doorway.

" Don't just stand around! Go get help!" I scream although I'm out of breath from the CPR. The boy quickly runs to all the doors and bangs on them.

" Help! Everyone wake up! Help! We need help!" He yells as he knocks on everybody's doors. He continues this all the way down the hall. I look right at Joy's face.

" Do not give up Joy! You're too young to just give up!" I encourage her. I just focus on her. Keeping a rhythm with the chest compressions. I can't loose her. She's too young! She's barely lived.

" Sharlene." Coren says. I feel him kneel behind me. I continue with Joy. She needs to wake up. She'll wake up, I just need to focus. I hear foot steps come towards me.

" Sharlene who is that?" I hear Steve ask me. I can't respond. Tears start to go down my face but I don't give up.

" It's Joy. Amy's sister." Coren says with sorrow clear in his voice. His voice is a little further away from before. He must've stood up. Steve comes to the other side of Joy and kneels across from me very calmly.

" How long have you been doing this?" He asks. Tears start pouring out of my eyes. I don't want to answer him because I know what it means.

" She's been doing CPR for fifteen minutes." Thomas replies to my left. When did he get here? Who else is here?

" Sharlene, you need to stop. She's gone." Steve says quietly.

" No!" I scream back. I don't stop the compressions. I don't dare stop.

" Yes she is. You need to stop." He repeats. I look up at him. I stare him down. Nobody says anything but that's when I see something move to my right. I slowly look around. A circle of children wearing pajamas has formed around Steve, Coren, Thomas, Joy and I. There's a few girls crying and quite a few people holding eachother but they're all staring at us. Well not us. There is no us anymore. They're staring at me. I look back at Steve.

' Just stop.' I hear him say in my head. It's like I'm in a constant motion. I can't stop. I'm not sure if physically I can't or just mentally I can't give up. Coren's hands slowly rest on my shoulders.

" Shar," He whispers softly in my ear. " It's time to let go." It's something about his voice that makes the facts come to me. She's gone. Joy is dead. She's no longer Joy, she's a body. I stop my hands but I don't move them off of her. I just stare at Joy. The tears in my eyes slowed down but they're there, going down my face. Leaving a wet trace. I lean back onto my feet, my hands still resting on her. Coren's arms slowly move down my arms until his hands reach mine and grip them from behind. He slowly slides my hands off of her. I lean back into his chest and close my eyes. I try to forget where I am. I try to forget that there's a body of a nine year old girl who used to run up and down the halls in front of me. I try to forget that I failed at keeping her alive. I heard her die. I could've done something. I should've done something. I dread in my thoughts until I hear the last voice I wanted to her right now.

" What's going on here?" Amy questions as she and Bryce come through the crowd hand in hand. I slowly turn my head away from the comfort and warmth of Coren's chest. Amy looks at me with pure confusion. I turn my head over to see that Thomas and Steve are blocking Joy from her.

' She needs to know' I place in their heads. Thomas turns to me with wide eyes and shakes his head slowly. I turn my head to Bryce.

' Joy is dead. They're blocking her from Amy.' He quickly turns his head back to me. We hold our gaze for a long moment. He looks down at the ground trying to figure out a way to tell her.

" Sharlene," Amy says as my takes a step towards me. " Are you okay?" I can't take it. I turn my head into Coren's chest again.

" Someone needs to tell me what's going on here!" She shouts. I lift my head again but avoid Amy's gaze I look over at Steve and Thomas. They turn to each other and nod. I look back at Amy who's staring at me. Joy has her eyes, well had. Out of the corner of my eye, Steve and Thomas each slowly back away to the far wall away from Joy's body.

" Amy." Bryce whispers softly into her ear. She begins to turn around but stops when she sees Joy.

Amy is frozen. All the colour in her face is gone. I've never seen a person so pale. I want to look away so bad but I can't, my eyes are fixated on her. Her feet slowly begin to walk towards Joy. Thomas takes a step forward but is stopped by Steve's arm. When Amy reaches Joy her knees begin to shake. She falls to her knees and grabs her hand.

" Joy," She says. " If you can hear me squeeze my hand." I slowly lean my head back onto Coren's shoulder. My face is still wet with tears and more are coming. I know that Joy isn't going to squeeze her hand back. She's not going to do anything. She's dead, Amy should know that. Maybe she does, she just doesn't want to believe it.

" Joy! Listen to me! It's your sister! It's your sister Amy!" She shouts between her sobs. Her voice is like a knife in my stomach and the more she shouts the deeper it goes in.

Bryce walks over there and sits down beside her. Amy is still shouting at her to wake up.

" Joy! Come back! Joy! Please no!" She screams. Bryce pulls her back into his arms.

" It's okay Amy. It's going to be okay." He whispers over her screams. Everyone else in the hall is silent. The only sound is Amy's screams and Bryce's whispers. I think everyone in headquarters is in this hallway. Every trainer and student is here,dreading the loss of a young girl who still had an amazing life ahead of her. I begin to fold back into Coren's arms until I hear a loud bang. I sharply turn my head to look at Coren.

" What was that?" I whisper. Coren looks up and down the halls. The sound repeats itself followed by a scream. The sound continues and repeats and overlaps. That's when I realize the sound is a gun.

Watching Joy die was a battle, but the battle has only begun.