Puppet Master

Chapter 2: The Chase

The footsteps continue down the hallway trailing all throughout the school. Danny raced after the steps from the second floor, down to the lobby, even to the gymnasium.
"Why are you running?! Who are you?!!" Danny screamed after the steps. He finally slowed to a stop out of breath, arching over with hands on his knees. "I...I just...want to know...where...everyone went!" Danny said between breaths. He regained his breath and took a step down the hallway, as soon as his foot hit the ground he stopped where he was. "What? Why can't I move?" Danny mutters through gritted teeth. He stood there, frozen with fear, but fear from what? A sudden zephyr blows through the hall causing the hairs on Danny's neck to stand on end, the footsteps were behind him. As hard as he may try he couldn't turn around if his life depended on it, and he had a feeling it actually might. After struggling, he saw the reflection of the figure behind him in the nearby door window. The figure's hand retracts into his sleeve pulling out something silver and metallic, then gives a shrill, bone-chilling laugh of insanity.
"Please...help me...hehe...hehehehe...ahAHAHAHAHAHA!!" The figure laughs in a young man's voice, he sounds about Danny's age. Danny's eyes widen as he sees the young man's head whip back in laughter, swinging the newly revealed revolver around wildly. Danny felt tears start to run down his face, but he was clueless as to where they were coming from. Finally Danny is able to move once again, but he felt as if he forgot how to walk. Falling to the ground, striking his knees and elbows hard on the marble flooring, he peered back towards the still laughing man. Seeing an opportunity, Danny begins to crawl towards the nearby open door. "Hehehe...where do you think your going?"
Danny freezes once again, the feeling of the cold, metallic barrel pressed against the back of his head has him frozen with fear. His crying is more intense now, his back shaking from the sudden breaths between tears. "Please..*hic*...please don't hurt me..."
"Look at me..." the gunslinger said in a low, metallic voice. All Danny could do was cry, he couldn't turn around, he couldn't move, he couldn't cry for help, he couldn't breath, all he could do was close his eyes and wait. "LOOK AT ME YOU SHIT!!" his scream, more frightening than anything before, forced Danny to fall on his stomach onto the flooring. His head, now pressed sideways on the floor, allowed him to look at the man holding his fate. He saw bright, piercing blue eyes, the most beautiful and deadly eyes he had ever seen. "That's right, look at me with despair. The fear in your eyes, ahahaha," he smiled a wicked grin and whispered in Danny's ear, "I love it." Danny heard the gun click in the man's hand, and time slowed. Danny watched the finger slide down the gun to the trigger, embracing the curve of metal with his finger. "Goodbye, Danny," he pulled the trigger. The gun fired, the bullet came towards Danny's eyes taking what felt like an eternity, then silence...

***

"NOO!! No stop!!!" Danny scrambled to his feet flipping his desk, hitting the kid in front of him receiving a hearty "What the-?" in response. "What? W-where? I'm in school? Haha...I'm in school!" Danny raises his hands triumphantly in the air having conquered the dream. Now he had to deal with the red faced Mr. Morako staring at him, who had a newly snapped pointer in his hand. Danny looked at the clock: 8:42am, it had only been five minutes! "What? There's no way..." Danny muttered under his breath, "Uh, Mr. Morako? May I be excused?" Mr. Morako simply pointed towards the door in response, Danny gathered his belonging and walked out the door, he was ready to leave. After walking a few steps down the regularly lit, normal hallways, Danny heard a pathetic excuse from a friend to go to the bathroom. Wilson, his only friend in first period, then came jogging down the hallway towards him. Wilson was an ok looking guy, he was slim, played baseball, and had the blackest hair you would ever find.
"Danny, what was that?" His concerned friend asked, looking dazed from the nap he also had a few moments ago. "I was just sitting there, dreaming about a date with Kelsie, next thing I knew you were flipping shit in the back corner!"
"Sorry to interrupt your girlfriend fantasies, but it's that dream again Wilson! The one I've been having for like 3 weeks? Yeah, I had it again, only this time, it was the worst it has ever been. I-it felt so real! Like i could feel the barrel actually on the back of my head." Danny sighed, "I'm just going down to the lake, I'm done for the day."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm just gonna go clear my head and rest for a bit, maybe stop by the cemetery while I'm at it." Danny said while walking down the hallway, not daring to look back and take the chance to see "him" again.