The Whisper Seekers

Heathens

Lily instinctively presses into Aaron, trying to move out of the way. A shot fires, but hits the lockers above her head with a deafening bang. I scream, my ears ringing again.

Ian stares at his gun in disbelief, and I know he saw it too. That bullet should have hit Lily square in the chest, not feet above her head. 

Lily is choking on sobs now, and Aaron wraps his arms around her, holding her tight as she shakes.

I still have my hands on the gun, and now, I raise it and aim straight at Ian.

"Don't make me shoot you, Ian. I will if you pull that trigger again. Please don't!" I plead and Elijah points his gun back at me.

"Shut up, bitch!" He shrieks in the chaos, then pulls the trigger.

The bullet should have hit me in the leg, but instead, it strikes the wall a foot to my left, leaving a small hole. He fires again. Another miss. Another bullet buried in plaster instead of flesh.

I'm frozen with fear, terrified of pulling the trigger. But I can't keep letting bullets whiz around the locker room. Someone's going to die if I don't act.

"What the hell is going on with these damn things!" Ian yells.

Before either of us can speak, the locker room door bursts open. The metal bangs against the wall, its hinges blown apart. I crouch, lowering the gun still gripped in my hands. Another deafening shot rings out.

Mike, Lily, and Aaron hit the floor at once. A blood-curdling scream pierces the chaos, and within seconds, crimson pools across the tile, mixing with the water already flooding the floor.

For a moment, I can't tell who's been hit—until I see the dark red spreading beneath Mike's leg.

Lily is bawling, barely able to breathe, as she and Aaron frantically apply pressure to Mike's leg. Blood is quickly spreading across the locker room floor, mixing with the water still pouring from the burst pipe.

Three SWAT team members burst into the room and I was one immediately tackle Ian to the ground. Marissa throws her hands up, surrendering, while Elijah drops to his knees, still clutching his gun but offering no resistance.

Mr. Anderson rounds the corner, and behind him, finally visible, Liam rushes toward me. I collapse into his arms, shaking, finally letting go.

More officers pour into the cramped space. Through my tears, I watch them handcuff Ian, Marissa, and Elijah and lead them out. Some officers glance at Liam, clearly confused about how he got in, but because he's holding a sobbing girl, no one removes him.

Paramedics arrive and quickly lift Mike onto a stretcher. Lily, her lower half soaked in his blood, silently follows the EMTs out of the locker room, still visibly in shock.

A police officer asks how I'm doing, but I can't even form the words to answer. He tells us to wait at the end of the hallway so he can get formal statements from us. Liam gently guides me through the crowd of officers and into the hallway once we're cleared to leave the locker room. I'm soaked from the water that had been spraying down on us, my white tennis shoes squishing with every step. I'm shivering—partly from the cold, mostly from everything I just witnessed.

Liam grabs a thick gray blanket from one of the EMTs and wraps it around me. I clutch it tightly, grateful for the warmth.

Police tape sections off parts of the hallway, and I can see students crowded on the other side, being ushered out of the building. Liam is the only student inside the taped-off zone who wasn't involved in the incident. They tried to escort him out earlier, but I screamed at an officer that he was the only person keeping me calm and they finally backed off.