Fortuity

1

It was that feeling, that feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when you know something's off, that made me tense in the middle of my Chemistry class. My nerves knotted in my stomach and I felt my heart hammer in my chest. My eyes darted around the room, trying to pinpoint the source; maybe someone had left a burner on? But there was nothing, everyone was calmly facing forward, listening to the teacher explain molarity. But I couldn't focus, my leg was bouncing up and down rapidly and my hands began to shake. Something was very wrong.

I turned to my right to ask Sam, maybe she felt as on edge as I did. I parted my lips to whisper to her when I heard it, faint at first, but then louder until it shook the door in its frame. There were three of them, followed by screams and yelling. Gunshots.

The class sat still. Silent. Listening. There came the sound of shattering glass and another high-pitched scream. We stared at each other, wide-eyed and paralyzed. The teacher had long since stopped talking and instead stared apprehensively at the door.

Suddenly there was static blaring from the intercom, like someone was breathing heavily and loudly. I jumped, clutching my pencil tightly in my fist. The voice of our assistant principal Ms. Laue spoke with an urgency I've never heard from the usually soft spoken woman. "Locks, Lights, Out Of Sight," she huffed and grunted, I could hear clatter and what sounded like laughter in the background. She became more panicked as the laughter grew louder and shouted, "Save yourselves!" The intercom abruptly cut off.

There was a moment when no one moved. We just sat there, holding our breath. Then another gunshot cut through the thick air, closer than before, and that's all we needed as incentive to move. The teacher locked both entrances to the room, shut off the lights, and herded us into the darkest corner of the room. "Nobody makes a sound," Mr. Pearson hissed, crouching in front of us. "Not until we know it's safe."

My heart was beating in my throat as I sat pressed against the wall, Sam's hand clutching onto my own. I tried to stay as silent as possible, afraid the killer would be able to hear my breathing through the heavy metal door. The tile floor was cold, but not nearly as frigid as the cold hand of fear that wrapped tightly around my heart.

The hallways were silent for a few minutes, I felt my heartbeat slightly slow. I strained to hear through the harsh breathing of my peers and went rigid when the sound of shoes squeaking against tiled floor met my ears. I stared wide-eyed through the dark at Sam, knowing she was thinking the exact same thing I was. We were't going to make it out of here alive.

I prayed and prayed they would just keep walking, that they wouldn't mind a dark, supposedly empty classroom and just move on. It seemed God was dealing with other prayers, as the footsteps stopped outside the door. I could see his shadow fall through the window in the door onto the floor in front of me. I couldn't breathe, couldn't move. I could only stare.

He seemed to be thinking something over, as the shadow's head cocked itself to the side. Everything happened so fast after that.

A gunshot hurt my ears and shocked the fear out of me for a split second. I was just numb for a blissful second, before it returned tenfold as the door that was previously locked was slowly pushed open. The light from the hallway fell on me as the door was opened wider, the dark silhouette of a man in the opening. I could only stare helplessly as those cruel eyes that will forever haunt me locked with mine.

I didn't remember much in that moment. I can vaguely recall Mr. Pearson sliding slowly from the dark corner to circle the doorway, as if he was planning to pounce on the intruder. But an unarmed man had no chance against a six foot monster with a shotgun. The man was still staring at me and I felt my body shaking with the utter power his gaze ensued. His eyes traveled from mine to the rest of my face and all the way down to my feet. I shuddered.