Witness

46| Scary Situations (pt. 2)

It had to be heights. The ladder looked rusted and unstable, and it didn't have any sort of caged in areas. It was just a thin, metal ladder that ran up the side of the building.

"No—no I can't! I can't; it's too high up... I don't do heights—I can't," I rambled.

"Shhh okay! Okay, Em, it's okay—no problem," Jax said, placing a reassuring palm on my shoulder. "Do you trust me?"

I nodded, unable to find my voice through my panicked breathing. I was such a fucking wimp.

"Then climb on my back, hang on tight, and keep your eyes closed," he instructed.

I nodded again as my eyes blurred with tears. He turned to me, crouching so I could climb up. I was quick to get on, letting him hook his arms under my legs to hoist me higher up onto his back. I wrapped my arms around his chest, holding on as tight as I could without hurting my elbow even more.

"Okay, I need you to hold on tight with your arms and legs because I need my arms to climb. Can you do that?"

"Yeah," I breathed, "I can do it."

"Okay. Here we go. Keep your eyes closed," he said.

I felt the muscles in his back working as he started down the ladder, and I could hear the metal creaking with each step. It was very unsettling, and even more so when I realized just how hard it was going to be to hold my own weight.

"Jax... this was a bad idea," I said, shaking so hard it was getting increasingly more difficult to hang on.

I felt him wrap one of his arms under my butt, pushing me up while he held to the ladder with his other arm. "Readjust for a second, and let me know if you start to slip again. I got you," he panted, "You're not going to fall. We're already halfway there."

I did my best to slow my heart rate, hanging tight to Jaxon until we were safely on the ground. He was the one doing all the work; the least I could do was get a grip.

I had my eyes squeezed shut so tight that I barely even noticed when we were off the ladder. "Okay, I gotta put you down for a minute," Jax panted. "You okay?"

"Yeah," I breathed, sliding gently onto my feet. "Thank you."

Sirens were blaring in the distance, and I knew it would only be a matter of time before this building was completely surrounded.

I was pulled abruptly from my thoughts when my phone buzzed in my pocket, alerting me that I had a school email. Jax's phone buzzed too, several times, and a quick glance at the subject line warned me that our school was on lockdown.

"We need to get away from here before the cops see us," Jax said. "They're gonna lock down this building, and we can not get questioned. Are you with me?"

"Yeah," I sniffled, "Let's go."

Though, I was completely losing my shit.

I followed quickly behind Jax, doing my best to match his stride as he pulled me along, but I was absolutely terrified that we would catch a bullet in the back. What if they weren't the only shooters on campus? What if the cops don't catch them? What if I was their target all along?

My thoughts were consuming me, and they were more than dizzying. I slipped from Jaxon's grasp, placing my hands on my knees while my head swam.

"Come on," Jax panted, "We need to keep going."

With the adrenaline of being in immediate danger fading, I was left with nothing but a crushing feeling of dread and fear. I felt completely sick to my stomach.