What She Left

chapter twelve

i have recently come to the realization that the chapters i've already written could use a lot of editing and could be much improved... so i think i will edit those in the next couple days. hopefully i'll write some new stuff as well, but i'm not sure since i've got a lot going on irl. thank u guys for reading ily

ten-oh-two a.m., march fifteenth, two thousand and seventeen

Mei had never said a single prayer in her life, and she felt like whatever God she's petitioning to knows that, and so, basically, she was screwed. She didn't blame them, or him, or whatever, though; if someone had never had an ounce of faith in you until they needed you, would you help them?

So instead, she did what she's done all her life, and she calculated. Every risk, every move she could possibly make, thinking, planning, anything to distract her from whose blood she was drenched in.

Mei gagged a little when she brushed her hair behind her ear and found it caked in thick, still warm blood. She covered her mouth with her hand in an attempt to stop it, but her meager breakfast rose in her throat. No, shut up, shut up, stop thinking about it, stop, stop, stop.

The boy looked at her with wide eyes in the dark under the table, taking in her tear-filled eyes, convulsing stomach, and blood-covered clothes. He took her free hand in his, but there was nothing he could really do. Mei can see the grief and pain etched into his pupils.

The library door was a really heavy one, and one that shut very loudly. So when the girl with the gun entered the library, every single person heard it.

Mei stopped breathing.

An all consuming, overtaking feeling flooded her chest; she really didn't want to die. She wanted to fall in love first. At least one time.

But this girl, whoever she was, was ripping the dreams out of every student's grip. Because of whatever shit she was going through, whatever had messed her up so badly, was ending some lives and ruining others. Who was she to decide who gets to love and who gets to die? Mei had never been a religious sort, but to her, it seemed like the sort of thing that was God's job. Not these fucked-up masked psychopaths.

But, after all, so far today God hadn't done shit for any of them.

He wasn't there when Brigid got a bullet in the stomach and died in agonizing pain. He wasn't there when Brigid's little brother and Mr. Garner got shot in the head, and all of thise other people who deserved to live. He wasn't there as footsteps prowled through the carpeted library, every step like whisper. A promise of death.

The first scuffle was over before Mei even registered it happening. A scream quickly silenced. A girl, surely. At least she died fast. Mei couldn't even see theough her frantic tears. She tried her best to make them silent, but she knew they weren't. The boy- his name is Jack, she remembered, again- pressed his hand against her mouth, hard, and squeezed her hand briefly.

She gripped his hand so tightly he winced, but it eased her tears a little. Mei had never felt fear like this, raw and blunt. Shoved right in her face without even the slightest warning.

Wth every step the girl made, Mei's heart beat three times as fast. She closed her eyes, and it was like she could feel that heartbeat of every person in that library. Hunter and prey. This is what survival instincts were made for. Have we gone so far back that we have turned into cavemen, hunting each other, killing each other without reason?

    Who would do this?

    With a slight turn of her head she can see the entire class, every student. And one's missing. Every student at Stone Ridge High knows not to be late to Mr. Garner's class.

As Mei racks her brain, trying to remember who the lost student may be, Brigid leans over subtly. Keeping her eyes on their middle-aged teacher, she whispers, "Nikitis. Bailey."

Mei easily recognizes the name. Bailey Nikitis is the known silent, brooding student who gives away nothing with her expressions- her usual look known to the school as the "Bailey Bitch Face"- and says even less. Rolling her eyes, she taps her fingernail on her notebook. "Oh, well, who cares if she isn't here."

    No.

    It can't be.

     Bailey was quiet, friendless, the type that you avoided being in the bathroom alone with, but she was not the type to kill all these people. She was not the erratic, irrational person who must be doing this. Right?

     The blonde hair fit, the stature, the voice, at least as far as Mei could remember. And the way the teachers and students had treated her in the past all came into focus right as she sat under that table with the heavy white tablecloth and boy she barely knew.

     Her hand was covered with the blood of her best friend, and all she could do was think about how she hated the metallic smell.

     It was so quiet.

      Tap, tap.

     The person who killed her best friend shouldn't walk so gently.

     Tap, tap.

     Mei had planned on being a doctor, before. Now she feels sick at the thought of seeing blood again. Not after this. She was covered in blood, he was covered in blood, she could never do this again.

     Tap, tap.

      Watch so many people die.

      Tap, tap.
   
     Mei had always liked the feeling of suspense. She loved horror movies. Brigid hated them. "I won't be able to sleep, I swear to God, Mei, let's watch Clueless or something."

      Mei didn't like that feeling anymore.