Can You Keep A Secret?

Chapter Fifteen

           

-Liv's POV-

            I wasn't sure how long we stood there like that. Time seemed to lose all meaning as the world raged on around us. At some point, it was announced that there was an active shooter in the station. I felt myself tense up, my fear rising, but Rye stayed calm, rubbing my back, keeping me against him. I was able to match his breathing again, calm down. He and I were the eye of the hurricane.

            When I opened my eyes, some of the red lights had been replaced with pictures of the guy. Somehow, I felt unattached from everything, like I did when Blair told me to pack up my stuff and leave. Things had gotten so crazy and unpredictable that it seemed like there was no way that this was my life. Maybe I'd gotten really into a movie, or a book, so much so that it felt like it was really real, but there was no way that it possibly could be.

            Even when the sound of a gunshot went off nearby, and there were more screams, more running, it didn't affect me. We were in our own little bubble, safe from whatever was out there. A minutes later, somebody came running around the corner. It felt as if a child had reached up to touch a bubble and popped it entirely.

            I fell back down from wherever I'd been flying, wherever it had been holding me, and back down to Earth – hard. The man froze upon seeing us, clearly having expected to find recluse in a private corner, alone. It took me a second to realize that his face matched the one on the flashing screens – To see him in two places at once felt a little disorienting.

            I let my eyes drift down, over to his hands – to his gun. I couldn't help it, I let out a little whimper. More than anything that had happened in the past day, it was the way his eyes looked that frightened me the most – They were cold, hard, filled with an inferno of anger.

            I felt Rye slowly letting go of me, moving in front of me. I tried to say "No," but nothing came out. It should be me standing in the way. I didn't want to die, but it didn't seem right to me – He had more people waiting on him. He had more to live for. I made a split-second decision to try and actively push him aside, but before I could move very far, the sound of a bang made the entire world go still.