REWIND: Tampered (Youtube FanFiction)

Chapter Nine

"Fear"

Day 7 – Wednesday
12:04PM

||Nate Smith (NateWantsToBattle)||

I don't think I've seen Dawn look as happy as she is right now since we've met. I watch her from across the table as she laughs at one of the stories her friends, Daniel Howell and Phil Lester, are telling us. She keeps beaming them the brightest smile I've seen her wear, even brighter than when we were with MatPat and Stephanie. Her green eyes would squint so much as she laughs and her cheeks are even turning a bit red as she playfully nudges Dan with her elbow.

She looks genuinely happy to be with them again but I can't help but also see how scared she is right now, even around her friends. The restaurant we're eating in right now is in a pretty packed mall and we would constantly hear different noises coming from the kitchen or from outside the restaurant. With every loud sound, I'd see Dawn flinch and would occasionally grab Dan or Phil's hand as she tries to hide how anxious she is.

I don't blame her, though; I'm just as scared as she is. Within just hours after Anthony Padilla's and Ian Hecox's deaths, the news about the recent shootings in LA spread throughout America. I would have guessed that the news will spread internationally in a matter of days but it was accelerated to within twenty-four hours when someone else got shot last night. Again, it was done in public and from a far distance, but it only took one bullet to kill her: Jenna Marbles. Another YouTuber. According to the news, she was out last night, enjoying the company of friends who came to visit for VidCon, when she was shot. To say that it, along with the previous incidents, caused mass hysteria around the world is an understatement.

Speculations spread like wild-fire all throughout the internet in a matter of hours. Everyone is talking about it and how there has already been five victims in five days. Many are saying that it's orchestrated by a cult or some other secret organization, some say it's controlled by the government itself. The LAPD still refuses to announce that there might be a mass murdering sniper in LA, probably to avoid adding more panic to the public.

No one, not even the police, knows who's ballsy enough to murder five people, some of them in broad daylight, and no one knows who the killer's next targets are and will be. As of now, everyone's a target.

This mass hysteria has even caused delays in domestic and international flights in and out of LA. Everything's falling apart slowly. But these delays did not stop Dawn's YouTuber friends, Dan Howell and Phil Lester from flying to LA to be with her. We decided to fetch them from the airport and we plan to escort them to their hotel after eating lunch. Dawn wasn't very happy to stop by a mall because of obvious reasons but I reassured her that we'll be in and out soon enough. I'm surprised, however, at the fact that Dan and Phil refused my offer to let them stay at my place instead, saying that Dawn is already a handful for me.

I'm more than happy to help in anyway, honestly. If I could do as I please, I would drag them away from this mall and back to my place where I actually have some sense of safety. I'm still wondering how this mall is even packed despite the recent events, too.

But I guess one stop at the mall won't hurt anyone. Looking at them again, laughing together, I feel myself ease up. At least they're enjoying themselves. Heck, I'm enjoying their company, too. I never expected to get a chance to meet these successful nerds with mirrored hairstyles. They've got a great sense of humor and are pretty easy to talk to despite saying that they don't socialize a lot. Dan and Phil are pretty close to each other, too, with both of them constantly turning to the other like they can only function as a pair.

After a few more minutes, I decide to excuse myself to go to the bathroom. Dawn nods at me, and I can see her give me a "try-not-to-get-killed-in-the-bathroom" look. So, I take a considerably short bathroom break so she won't get worried. Though, after doing my business, I bump into someone on the way back to our table, and a familiar voice greets me, "And here I thought I won't be able to see you again before the world ends."