The adrenaline pumping through my body as I run, not bothering to look back. I come to a stop at the bottom of the library steps just as the man shouts, "Two!"

"Stop!" I yell out.

Megaphone Man smiles wickedly before taking a step down towards me.

"Audrey Litt?" he poses it as a question, but I can tell by his smug expression that he already knows the answer.

"What do you want from me?" I begin to feel hot and sweaty as I nervously glimpse at Anita and the man holding her captive. We make eye contact as she attempts to stifle a sob, but to no avail. Her tear-filled eyes ignite a sudden fire within me, and for a brief moment, all fear is replaced with pure rage.

"I came. Now let her go," I grit my teeth.

The man scowls. "Walk towards me first."

I square my shoulders, hoping that maybe if I look confident, I might feel that way too. So far no good, though. "No. Let her go first."

Anita's gunman swiftly points his pistol towards me instead. "I suggest you do as we say or someone gets hurt." He aims the gun back against Anita's temple, his fingers lightly curling around the trigger.

My heart skips a beat and, left with no choice I slowly begin to ascend the stairs towards the gunmen.

"Come on, Miss Litt. I'm sure those pretty little legs of yours can move faster," Megaphone Man sneers and the second gunman snickers.

I use that brief moment to scan over their belts, which seem to hold all sorts of contraptions and holsters for different objects. I notice a gun in its holster on Megaphone Man's belt, near his hip.

If I distract him long enough, I might be able to snatch the gun from his belt.

Realising that I'm walking quicker than anticipated, I stop in my tracks, alarmed.

I'm only three steps away from him. Should I make a dive for the gun? Will I make it?

I debate on how desperate I am to reach it and soon find myself regretting having bolted from Mark without a plan.

What do I do?

"Get a move on!" Anita's gunman orders.

"We don't have time for this," Megaphone Man growls.

Just as he is about to reach for my arm, another hooded figure emerges from the library, pushing the doors open dramatically. Hearing the library doors slamming open, both men turn to find the source of the noise. However, before either one has a chance to react, the mysterious black-clad figure bolts towards the men, knocking the gun from Anita's capturer's hand, and the gun clatters down a few steps.

Surprised at the stranger's sudden attack, I stumble back a few steps, wondering if this mystery man was a friend or a worst foe than these bulky gunmen. The two seem just as dumbfounded as me at this new turn of events, and the slim figure seizes this opportunity, punching the man who is still holding onto Anita. The gunman loses his balance and immediately releases Anita as he staggers down a couple of steps. While he holds his jaw in pain, this seems to snap Megaphone Man out of his daze, and his dumbfounded expression soon turns into utter rage. He drops the megaphone, and a loud, high-pitch frequency rings out mercilessly. I cover my ears and grit my teeth at the awful sound, but Megaphone Man snarls and gives the megaphone a mighty kick, sending it clattering all the way down to the bottom of the stairs, and the ear-splitting shriek is silenced. Megaphone Man swiftly pulls out his gun now, pointing it directly at the hooded man's chest.

"You!" he spits.

The mystery man remains silent and unmoving. I try to peer past the hoodie, but his head is angled away from me, meaning I cannot gain a clear view of his face unless I step closer towards the three men. I'm beginning to get a sense of Déjà vu, and as curious as I am to see the man behind the hood, I'm smart enough to know that stepping in between two dangerous men who obviously do not like each other is probably not a good idea.

I can't help the loud gasp that escapes my lips as Megaphone Man pulls the trigger, and I hear a loud bang as the mystery man manages to dodge the flying bullet. He then speedily leaps towards Megaphone Man, successfully grabbing hold of the gun and pointing it in the air, but unsuccessful in actually grabbing the gun for himself. The two struggle for power, and Megaphone Man manages to curl his fingers around the trigger. A bullet fires into the air, and despite the warning voice in my head, I find myself unable to move, too paralysed by fear and shock. My ears are still pounding from both the ear-splitting frequency and the horrendous bang from the gun, but at the moment that's not the focus of my worries.

Anita's familiar voice screams out my name, which instantly draws me back to reality. I snap my gaze towards her, where she stands a few steps above me and dangerously close to the two men who are still struggling to gain the upper hand. She points past me, a horrified expression on her face, and I look to where she's pointing.

The other gunman seems to have recovered from that mighty punch and is now hurrying down the steps where the fallen gun had landed. My eyes widen in apprehension, knowing that we only have a few seconds now to escape before he reaches that gun. On instinct, I run up the remaining steps towards Anita and grab her hand.

"Come on!" I urge, but it seems that it's her turn to be immobilised by fear.

I risk a quick glimpse at the scene beside me and note that the gun has been knocked out of Megaphone Man's hand. The two men are now struggling and fighting to be the first to reach the gun on the step below, and I turn my attention back to the other gunman.

Terror grips my heart as he reaches his gun and picks it up, instantly turning and pointing it first at me, then at Anita, who screams. Not knowing what else to do, I drag Anita down into a crouch as we cling onto each other. I hear a shot and we both shriek, covering our heads. There's a moment of eerie silence that seems to stretch on forever, and I drop my arms by my side and risk a glance at my best friend. She catches my gaze and suddenly breaks into a fit of sobs, clutching me desperately.

I knit my eyebrows together in concern and bite my bottom lip.

"Anita," I grip her shoulders tightly. "Are you okay? Did you get shot?"

She shakes her head, but I give her a quick glance over just to make sure.

"Th-they grabbed me w-when... when I was walking t-to school this morning. They... I don't know... how..." the tears are rolling down her cheeks in an endless stream now.

She's not making any sense. The poor thing is petrified. What the hell did they do to her? I shake away my worrying thoughts. I have to get her out of here, now.

"Shh, it's okay," I reassure her, gently grabbing her hand as I help her stand up with me. "Anita, we need to..." before I can finish my sentence, however, I'm interrupted by a loud cry.

I abruptly turn my attention towards the two struggling men. The hooded man firmly pushes Megaphone Man against the stairs' railing, and it appears that the mystery figure was successful in gaining control of the gun. He places it firmly against the man's temple, and Megaphone Man sneers in contempt.

Suddenly remembering the other gunman, I glance back at him now, half-expecting to see him standing inches away from me with his gun pointed towards my head, like in the horror movies, but instead, what I see is far worse.

"Mark!" I scream, panic coursing through my veins as I watch Mark trying to pry the gun from the man's grip.

"What are you doing? Run!" he glances at me for only a moment, but that split-second is all the gunman needs, and he punches Mark in the stomach, who lets out a groan as he stumbles back a few steps, almost losing his balance completely.

All of this is my fault. Mark came out here to save us.

At this thought, I glance at my terrorised friend, who is staring unblinkingly at the scene before us. I grasp Anita's hand tightly now, determined to lead her away from this commotion. As the gunman cocks his gun towards us again, Mark lunges at him from behind. As the two struggle for the upper advantage, the gunman curls his finger over the trigger and fires. So far, Mark is managing to avert the gun's intended aim by gripping onto the barrel, but with each shot, I notice his hold is getting weaker, and the random bullets firing through the air is like a bright, neon warning to me.

I don't want to leave Mark, but there's nothing I can do to help right now. First, I need to get Anita to safety.

Luckily for me, Anita must have finally gotten some sense back, because it wasn't long before she was running alongside me rather than lagging behind me. We continue to sprint down the steps, not stopping as we pass Mark and the gunman, nor when we hit the bottom step. I glimpse back one final time and see to my relief that the hooded man has not moved an inch since I last saw him, the barrel of the gun still pointed directly at Megaphone Man's head.

I stop briefly now, glancing back at Mark guiltily as he persists in standing his ground while desperately trying to get a decent grasp on the gun. Anita tugs at my hand nervously, wincing when another bullet ricochets just a few metres to our right. Still clasping her hand, we begin to run once again. My heart skips a beat as yet another loud bang sounds behind us. Anita's grip suddenly loosens as she stumbles into me, almost making me lose my balance.

"Anita, come on!" I encourage, regaining my balance and turning to face her.

Anita stares at me with wide eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks, her mouth slightly ajar.

"Audrey... I'm scared," she whimpers, her knees buckling violently. She suddenly falls onto her knees, and my eyes widen in horror at the steadily growing bloodstain that's seeping through the back of her shirt.

"Anita!" I shriek, catching her as she sways violently forward. I lay her onto her back gently, forcing down the lump in my throat. The blood is seeping through at an alarmingly fast rate. I know this because a pool of blood is forming around her chest now too, and terror seizes me as I realise the horrible truth.

The bullet must have gone straight through to her heart.

No. No, no, no, no, no. I repeat this one word, over and over in my head, hoping that maybe if I think it enough times, it might somehow make it untrue.

She blinks slowly at me, opening her mouth, but no words come out.

I begin muttering to her under my breath as I rock back and forth from my crouched position beside her, one hand gently pressed behind her back and the other on over her heart. "You're fine. You're fine. You'll be okay."

The blood is now seeping onto both my hands, and there's just too much blood.

Too much.

Her head lolls to one side. I grip her shoulders fiercely and shake them.

"Anita!" I scream. "No! Stay with me!"

By now I've blocked everything else around me. It's just Anita and I. Panic flares up within me as I notice the ever-growing pool of blood around her, and I start to sob, despite my best efforts to hold back the tears threatening to escape.

"No, please. Stay with me, Anita!" I beg, trying to keep her in a kind of sitting position so that I can keep my left hand pressed against her wound in the hopes that somehow, the blood might stop flowing. "No, please, Anita. Don't you dare die on me, please." I know I'm babbling, but I can't help it.

I take my hand away from her heart now, scared to feel her slowly decreasing heart rate. Instead, I lay her down completely again, removing my hand from the small of her back. I then squeeze her hand tightly, staring into those scared, blue eyes that no longer seemed to hold the light in them as they once did. I grasp at a sliver of hope as Anita squeezes my hand back ever so slightly, right before going limp. All hope instantly evaporates, and my bottom lip trembles violently as I hold back a sob.

"N-no. No, please. Anita..." I whisper. When she doesn't answer, I become desperate. "Anita!" I scream at her, again and again, but her blue eyes are no longer staring at me, but rather, through me, into nothingness.

I stare at her in horror, her strawberry blonde hair framing her petite, round face, and she just looks so innocent and peaceful and far too young to die.

I clench my hands into fists beside me. Terror, anger and sadness aren't the only emotions that one feels when losing someone to death. It's so much more than that. Once the initial shock hits you, it's as if you're drowning in a sea of uncontrollable emotion. No matter how many times you try and swim to the surface, you can't. It's as if you're trapped underwater. You can't breathe. You can't call out for help. Nobody understands your sorrow like you.

Someone calls out my name, but it seems like the voice is far, far away from here.

Suddenly, I'm jolted back to reality when a hand grabs my arm, forcing me to stand upright. I watch Anita's hand fall to her side as I'm forced to let go of her. I can feel the sudden anger seething within me, and it's close to boiling point.

"Let go of me!" I scream, struggling to get back on the ground next to Anita, but a pair of strong arms hold me around my waist.

"Audrey!"

For the briefest moment, I remain still, recognising Mark's familiar, soothing voice. But that rage soon takes over, and it's not long before I'm struggling against him again.

"Listen, I managed to knock that guy unconscious, but we have to leave, now."

Mark's words seem like a jumble of gibberish to me.

I just want my best friend back.

He forces me to face him, and I squirm against him a while longer before finally giving up, my shoulders shaking as a huge sob escapes my lips. He glances down in dismay at Anita's body before pulling me into a hug. My head rests against his chest as I ball my eyes out, half conscious that I'm probably getting his shirt wet.

He pulls me back gently, staring at me with those soft, brown eyes. I look away, turning my attention towards the gunman, who, sure enough, is lying on the ground unconscious. A sudden bolt of pure hatred courses through me as I take a step towards the guy.

"It's all his fault!" I spit. He's the one who pulled the trigger. He's the one who killed Anita!

"Audrey!" he grabs my arm, and I whip around to face him.

His understanding gaze surprises me, and I instantly soften a little.

"Please," he says.

I turn my attention towards the scene on top of the library stairs one last time. The hooded figure is slowly walking backwards, down the stairs, his gun still pointing towards Megaphone Man's head.

"Make one move," the hooded man growls, "And I won't hesitate to pull the trigger."

The hooded figure's deep voice sparks a memory in my mind, and I realise now why he seems so familiar.

He's the same hooded man that was outside my door!

Megaphone Man glares at the retreating figure but remains where he is against the railing. When the mystery man reaches the bottom step, he glances over at the two of us.

He nods at Mark. "I've already had him call off his men. Take the back route."

Mark swiftly nods in return.

Wait, what? They know each other?

"What...?" I start, but Mark cuts me off.

"You'll understand everything soon," he grabs my hand. "You just have to trust me, Audrey."

I lock eyes with him before glancing down at Anita's body one final time.

"Okay," I whisper.

He squeezes my hand reassuringly, but that only leaves a pang in my heart as I recall Anita weakly squeezing my hand before going limp.

"Let's go," he says, and we take off running. We sprint past the girls' bathroom, past the basketball courts near the back of the school, and onto the back ovals that stretch for a few acres, my dead best friend far behind me now.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

|Dedicated to SILVERSTAR630 |

Such a supportive reader who's always actively voting and commenting Xx

Have any queries/suggestions? Don't be afraid to comment below and vote if you like!

EDITED ✔