First the bangs. Eight in total. They all hit at the same exact second.
Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.
Time freezes. The glass is suspended in midair for a moment. A split second. And then it explodes in, looking like water mist at the end of the waterfall, only more murderous. Crash. The sound of shattering glass echoes throughout the sudden silence of the classroom. The glass pieces rain down inside, like hail just harder and sharper than any hail I've ever known. I'm lucky, my seat is situated just beside the window so I don't get hit by the glass in full force like those farther out when the glass explodes in. Although there is a nasty cut on my arm. The pain doesn't register yet. All I can feel is shock. This all happens in less than seconds. The glass shatters in and then silence as the last pieces drop to the floor. Silence.
Utter silence.
And then chaos erupts. The bangs, they were gunshots. The giant window that covered the entire length of the western wall- gone into pieces scattered throughout the room and piercing several students skin. Cries. Shouts. What is going on? Ms. Dee, the teacher is in her first year of teaching this year. Tears streak her face and I see blood on her hands. Several desks are overturned although I don't remember seeing them fall.
And that's when it happens. Our attention is fixated on the window-frames-with-no-panes but the attack comes from the door. The door is opposite the window.
Slam! The door bursts open and a man jumps in. His face is covered as is his body. He wears only black. Another man follows him in. And then another. Within seconds eight men surround the perimeter of the room. A particularly burly one blocks the algebra example on the board that I had been copying into my notebook seconds earlier. The half copied example stares at me from my notebook, now dotted with beads of glass. I guess I'll never know what X equals.
All of the men have guns. I should have noticed this earlier. They hang on their sides. At least none of them dare to wield them.
Everybody is confused and I pretend to not understand what is going on. My classmates are not used to this. Although, experience aside, I am deathly afraid. A single well-aimed shot can have me dead on the floor. It will be through my head. That way there's not even a chance to save me. But I will not get shot. They didn't come to kill-at least not right away-they want something and I have a feeling I know what it is.
"Step forward and we won't kill everyone." I never heard such a cruel voice in which the words are now growled. I can't imagine a face ugly enough to compensate with it and all I have to supply my imagination is the black mask in which the man hides behind. Just like he hides behind my friends. He knows I will as soon as die myself if he threatened me. But that wouldn't help him in retrieving the information I have.
There is a puzzled look on everybody's faces mixed in with the fear. Should I give myself up so easily? Nobody makes a sound. They are not foolish enough to speak up.
The man locks his hands on the gun. His hold tightens with each passing second. His eyes swiftly pass through the room. I feel them on me. Sense them narrow slightly. This man has a temper. He doesn't like to be made to wait. A small injury wouldn't stop me from speaking, would it? If he takes a shot at my leg I would still be alive to give information. He lifts the gun. It is a heavy gun although he lifts it with ease.
And that's when I make my move. I run. Twenty desks, mere obstacles in my path. Nothing more than that. I passed the obstacle course in training more than once; this is just another game like that. My eyes narrow and I'm only seeing this as just another training exercise. I weave past a tangle of desks and jump over another that fell.
Bang! The blasting shot still rings in my ears. Am I deaf? No, sound slowly returns, although I have no time to wait. Somewhere behind me I hear a body drop to the ground. Dead. One of the eight., not one of my classmates. He missed. Nobody else dares to shoot in the enclosed space. I took them by surprise, they hadn't expected me to run. Although they quickly recover. The two closest to the door shuffle to block it and then they are in my way. Seven trying to make me lose at my own game. Suddenly this game just got harder. Luckily, But I make my own set of rules.
I run straight to the door. Automatically they move to block me, slamming the door back shut. Lifting my hands, I slam it into their covered faces before they understand what's going on. Broken glass, pointed knife-like pieces pierce the skin of their faces. It was clutched in my hands and now I feel the pain as it scrapes across my skin. There is no smooth hilt on this makeshift knife. Blood spurs from the terrible cuts. I catch the man to the left of me in the eye. Straight in the eye. He is in a lot of pain. He drops to the floor. The other is clutching his face with his hands so I can't see where I caught him. I smack him out of the way and burst through the door with five pushing aside bodies and desks behind me.
It is not surprising that nobody else from the school came bursting in at the sound of the gunshots. The ninth grade classroom is on the ground floor, but the main exit is on the floor above. It is the only classroom on the floor. Above they must have heard but assumed it was something else. Who would come with guns to Letters Academy? There is the cafeteria and the gym on this floor but nobody is currently using those rooms. There is an entrance on this floor but it is past the cafeteria, , the intruders must have entered through there.
I burst out of the classroom and down the short hall. The entrance on this floor is too far away. To get away, I'll need to go up a floor.
I have to make my decision in less than a second. A memory. Me being told never to use an elevator in an emergency. Panic drives me towards it. I change my mind at the last second but it's too late. Luck is on my side, the second I slam against the button causing the light to glow orange behind it, the doors slide open. Just then the classroom door burst back. The bodies and desks must have kept them. I jump into the elevator without second though. It is a mistake. I should've taken the stairs. I just hope this mistake won't cost me my life.
The doors begin to slide shut. They couldn't make it. One man runs ahead, he is tall and quick. He dives forward just as the doors are sliding shut, almost closed-a hand slips through the crack. I lean forward and impulsively, I bite his gloved hand. My teeth come down hard and he pulls back. I know I've left marks. But the doors are sliding open now. No! I slam on the button to close the doors. I push them together with my hands but through the sliver I see the other men come. I slam down on a button, any button on the panel, hoping it's not too late. And then the crack shuts completely, cutting off any light, any view of the basement hallway of Letters Academy. And the elevator begins it's ascend.
The elevators always go so slow. Too slow. It was just so calm after everything. A sudden silence since the doors closed closing off and leaving behind panic and fear, although I knew that wasn't true. The silent space with mirrors mounting on the walls, just above the silver bar. The burgundy flowered wallpaper across the bottom half, under the mirrors. In Letters Academy, any student found using the elevator gets detention. It is strictly for the teachers only. I think they can bend that rule if it's a life or death situation. There is an utter silence and I am standing still, running what just happened through my mind. I look at the panel of numbers. The three glows orange. I am heading to the third floor. Although that won't be my first stop. I can feel them skittering down below, finding the staircase and hammering their way up. They will press the button on the floor above and the elevator will open there. There will be nothing I can do to stop them.
I work out what to do in less than a second. Hoping I have enough time, I do a quick calculation. There is just under thirty seconds until the elevator makes the stop on the first floor. I grab onto the metal bar I've always rendered pointless and pull my foot up beside my hand. I move my hand to the top of the elevator door where it juts out just a bit, enough for me to grab onto. I pull my other foot up. I am standing on the metal bar encompassing the elevator, my hands holding on the top of the elevator door frame to keep balance, my head crouched to avoid bumping against the ceiling. I look up and steadily raise my hand to the ceiling. I am pressing against a panel. I slide it aside with both hands, using it for balance. Now there is a hole and my hands reach up into the shaft. I put my hands through the holes and hold onto the sides. Then I jump and use my hands to hoist myself up.
I am standing above the elevator. I am in the elevator shaft. Above me is wood lined up in a square with metal squares for doors and the closest one just gets closer. It is ugly and drafty up here. A spider scuttles across the wood closest to me and then it is gone between the cracks. No need to make nice what is not meant to be seen. I slide the panel back mostly beneath me, leaving it open just a crack for me to see in the elevator. The metal doors that slide open to the first floor meet my eye. I can hear the noise beyond it. And then they pass to open to the elevator.
The box of elevator underneath me lurches to a stop as the strings stop moving. I peek in through the tiny crack I left. The doors slowly slide open as elevators do. Two men stand there. They peek in. The shorter one points up and the other says something on his cell phone. Something I didn't hear although I sure did understand.
Where are the other men, there were more than two? Why ask if I know the answer? They figured it out. Knew what I would do. The second floor doors loom above me but something is stalling me from getting there, and off to what I hope is safety. The two underneath are keeping the elevator although they are not getting on. Why aren't they coming for me if they know I'm in the shaft? A lurch of metal answers my question. I look up. The doors above me on the second floor are being pried open. A masked face shows though the crack. I can't see his expression but I can imagine it. A mad smile. A face that can only mean death.
There is only one thing crossing my mind right now.
I am so dead.
