Hold Your Breath

when the alarms go off

Fear. It controls you in every way a person can be controlled. It teases you, poking at your emotions like a child begging for attention.

It sends shivers down your spine, and sends your body into panic mode. You break out into a sweat due to how quickly your heart is racing, but your mind is racing faster with a million different thoughts.

We all have different fears.

Take Betty Cooper for example; the mere thought of growing up keeps her up at night. It's inevitable, and haunting, that orange freezes at Pops are no longer her reality, and are now merely just a memory. Her womb, empty having had once carried a baby, only now there's no infant crying in her arms. All because she grew up too fast.

Or maybe look at Jughead Jones; impossibly fearful that everything will go to Hell one day and he won't be able to stop it. Maybe the serpents will finally live up to their title of the bad guys, and the beanie clad boy couldn't help but shudder at the thought that he'd end up like his dad. Downing a six pack in his trailer, wondering how becoming the leader of a gang did him any good.

Then there's Archie Andrews; awfully afraid that he won't be able to protect the people he loves most. That one was obvious. But really what he was afraid of was that one day people would wake up and realise that he was worthless, it dawned upon him months ago, and he dreaded the day people realised that he was pathetic. He tried to have hope but really he knew one day people would leave him, for someone better.

And Veronica Lodge; known to be fearless and yet the most fearful of them all. Scared to death that people will only ever see her as the monster her father is. Frightened that she'll get pulled into the mafia world of crime and end up just like her parents. Rich in wealth but terribly broke in love. She feared that no one really did love her, and maybe money was the motive of their praise.

While each person had their own individual fears, that had grown with them and changed with age, they all feared one thing right now.

And that was death.

Lurking around the corner, so close the teens could taste it. Would it hurt? Would they be missed? So many questions and so little time. For death was marching their way.

The lights were turned off, the doors were locked shut, and while Jughead Jones had no clue what anyone else in the school was doing, he knew for certain that his friends in the student lounge, were all hiding.

A trembling Betty Cooper was curled up in a ball next to him under a table, and it was too dark to tell where anyone else was. Jughead wondered to himself if they were safe.

Screams came from down the hall as the popping sound continued. It sounded like fireworks. And though it most certainly wasn't, Jughead did his best to engage his inner 8 year old self, trying to believe it was the fun clouds lights bursting in the sky. He held Betty close, fearing he may never get to do so again.

There was a closet, which held spare football jerseys and vixen outfits. Archie had pushed Veronica in at the last second, knowing that she would fit in amongst the blue and gold fabric. The wood was no protector form bullets but it kept her hidden.

She didn't have time to insist that he too could get in before he closed the door, leaving her in the pitch black.

Veronica could hear everything that was going on, and shifted uncomfortably as the walls seemed to close in around her. It's like she was playing hide and seek with the grim reaper.

Heavy footsteps thudded down on the tiles of the hallway, the popping had come to a halt. It became dead silent.

All anyone could hear was their of rapid breath and pulsating heart, beating at a million miles an hours.