then I walked as quickly as I could over to those stairs.
When I reached them, adrenaline spinning through my body, I was pleasantly surprised to see the door at the bottom of the stairs open. The exit. Nobody was guarding it. My way out was right ahead.
I went to take a step when I felt something behind me.
Felt… like I was being watched.
I turned around, and every muscle in my body gave in.
One of the gunmen stood opposite. He was looking right into my eyes. Smiling.
His gun was pointed right at my chest.
“Sweet dreams, kid.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and held my breath.
The gunman pulled the trigger.
10
I felt the darkness surrounding me as the gunshot rattled through the air.
I waited. Waited for the bullet to hit me. I could hear the gunshot firing at me as if in slow motion. Tears streamed down my cheeks, their saltiness hitting my lips. My body froze all over. In my mind’s eye, I saw Cassie; I saw her lying there in the road as the explosion of The Great Blast surrounded me.
And then I saw Ellicia. The way she’d smiled at me. The way she hadn’t judged me. Despite everything that’d happened.
I saw her, and in that millisecond since hearing the gun fire and the bullet hitting me, I wished I’d had more guts. More guts to tell her how I felt. More guts to stand up for myself. To be as strong as I knew I could be. Because I was strong. I was strong because I’d had to be with the upbringing I’d experienced. I had to be after losing my older sister.
I waited for the bullet to pierce my skin and for the darkness to get a whole lot darker.
I realized then that I’d been waiting a long time. A hell of a long time.
I didn’t want to open my eyes. I didn’t want to see what was in front of me.
But I had to.
I opened my eyes.
I didn’t understand what I was looking at at first. It just didn’t make sense. Didn’t add up, in my mind.
The gunman who’d pointed the gun at my chest pulled the trigger, was lying on the floor.
There was a bullet hole right in the middle of his head.
I looked down at him. Still frozen. Part of me wondered whether this was some kind of trick. Whether it was a plot to scare me, to toy with me.
But there was no denying the reality of the gunshot wound on the gunman’s forehead.
I walked over to him, slowly, shaking. I wanted to pick up the gun. I could use it to defend myself if I needed to. But then that was a stupid idea. The police would think I was one of them. They’d shoot me down before I had a chance to even explain myself.
The police. They must’ve been here. They must’ve got in here and shot the gunman down before he had a chance to…
No. I’d heard the gunman pull the trigger. And I’d only heard that one bullet. I’d seen his fingers tighten around the trigger.
The bullet he’d fired should be inside me.
I should be dead. Or at least, wounded.
But I wasn’t. I was standing. I was alive.
I stepped back. Started to head towards the steps. A weird feeling took over my body. Thoughts about that cubicle, how it felt like I’d shifted between them when I needed to most. And then the incident back at school. The windows smashing when I was at my angriest. When I felt that sadness and frustration in the form of a weird tingling sensation, just like I had one other time in my life more than any.
The day of The Great Blast.
I started to descend the steps. What was I thinking? That something happened on the day of The Great Blast to make me… well, to make me what? No. I was being stupid. I was in shock. It was natural.
I had a guardian angel looking out for me. That’s all it was. Luck was on my side, for the first time in my stupid life.
I got halfway down the steps when I saw someone appear through the door in front of me.
It didn’t take me long to realize it was another one of the gunmen.
He lifted his gun. Went to fire.
I felt the anger, the fear, just like I’d felt it before.
I felt the tingling sensation take over my
When I reached them, adrenaline spinning through my body, I was pleasantly surprised to see the door at the bottom of the stairs open. The exit. Nobody was guarding it. My way out was right ahead.
I went to take a step when I felt something behind me.
Felt… like I was being watched.
I turned around, and every muscle in my body gave in.
One of the gunmen stood opposite. He was looking right into my eyes. Smiling.
His gun was pointed right at my chest.
“Sweet dreams, kid.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and held my breath.
The gunman pulled the trigger.
10
I felt the darkness surrounding me as the gunshot rattled through the air.
I waited. Waited for the bullet to hit me. I could hear the gunshot firing at me as if in slow motion. Tears streamed down my cheeks, their saltiness hitting my lips. My body froze all over. In my mind’s eye, I saw Cassie; I saw her lying there in the road as the explosion of The Great Blast surrounded me.
And then I saw Ellicia. The way she’d smiled at me. The way she hadn’t judged me. Despite everything that’d happened.
I saw her, and in that millisecond since hearing the gun fire and the bullet hitting me, I wished I’d had more guts. More guts to tell her how I felt. More guts to stand up for myself. To be as strong as I knew I could be. Because I was strong. I was strong because I’d had to be with the upbringing I’d experienced. I had to be after losing my older sister.
I waited for the bullet to pierce my skin and for the darkness to get a whole lot darker.
I realized then that I’d been waiting a long time. A hell of a long time.
I didn’t want to open my eyes. I didn’t want to see what was in front of me.
But I had to.
I opened my eyes.
I didn’t understand what I was looking at at first. It just didn’t make sense. Didn’t add up, in my mind.
The gunman who’d pointed the gun at my chest pulled the trigger, was lying on the floor.
There was a bullet hole right in the middle of his head.
I looked down at him. Still frozen. Part of me wondered whether this was some kind of trick. Whether it was a plot to scare me, to toy with me.
But there was no denying the reality of the gunshot wound on the gunman’s forehead.
I walked over to him, slowly, shaking. I wanted to pick up the gun. I could use it to defend myself if I needed to. But then that was a stupid idea. The police would think I was one of them. They’d shoot me down before I had a chance to even explain myself.
The police. They must’ve been here. They must’ve got in here and shot the gunman down before he had a chance to…
No. I’d heard the gunman pull the trigger. And I’d only heard that one bullet. I’d seen his fingers tighten around the trigger.
The bullet he’d fired should be inside me.
I should be dead. Or at least, wounded.
But I wasn’t. I was standing. I was alive.
I stepped back. Started to head towards the steps. A weird feeling took over my body. Thoughts about that cubicle, how it felt like I’d shifted between them when I needed to most. And then the incident back at school. The windows smashing when I was at my angriest. When I felt that sadness and frustration in the form of a weird tingling sensation, just like I had one other time in my life more than any.
The day of The Great Blast.
I started to descend the steps. What was I thinking? That something happened on the day of The Great Blast to make me… well, to make me what? No. I was being stupid. I was in shock. It was natural.
I had a guardian angel looking out for me. That’s all it was. Luck was on my side, for the first time in my stupid life.
I got halfway down the steps when I saw someone appear through the door in front of me.
It didn’t take me long to realize it was another one of the gunmen.
He lifted his gun. Went to fire.
I felt the anger, the fear, just like I’d felt it before.
I felt the tingling sensation take over my
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