Paper Towns~ A Continuation

Chapter 9. Animal

"Passion...it lies in all of us. Sleeping, waiting, and though unwanted, unbidden, it will stir, open its jaws, and howl. It speaks to us, guides us...passion rules us all. And we obey. What other choice do we have?"

                                                                                ~Joss Whedon

~

She takes one last step, and a loud bang echoes throughout Sea World.

She looks down at her chest, then looks back up. She turns her head to look at me.

And she falls to the ground.

A bullet had ripped through Margo Roth Spiegelman's heart.

~

A gun shot is louder than one may think. A clap of thunder from a storm is about one-hundred twenty decibels, and a gun being fired can range from one-hundred forty to one-hundred ninety decibels. That's a lot of noise, and that much noise can permanently damage your hearing. There's a really loud ringing in my ear after the gun shot goes off, so I'm kinda just standing there, not knowing what's happening. But after a few seconds of just standing there, something clicks in my brain.

"No," I think I hear myself say. "No. Nonononononono."

The security guard just stands there, his gun still trained on Margo. He sort of has a shocked look on his face, like he can't believe he just shot a person. I think he begins to say something along the lines of, "I didn't mean to", and "I'm sorry", but there's still that loud ringing in my ear so I can't really hear him.

I look over at Margo. There's a pool of blood around her, and she's just laying there, sprawled out on the ground. I want to yell at her to get up, but instead I think I yell "Call an ambulance" to the security guard. He stands still for a few seconds, but then runs off to get a phone.

My legs begin to move towards Margo and I kneel down to her. There's an ugly wound in her chest and she has a sort of dead look in her eyes. I hold her hand, and even though it's covered in her own blood, I hold it anyway because I want her to know that she's okay, and everything is gonna be alright.

I get a tight feeling in my chest, the feeling you get when something really, really horrible happens, and I start to breathe rapidly. I want to stop, but I can't, so I just stay that way, holding Margo's hand until I begin to hear sirens wailing in the distance. I remember that, earlier, the security guard had said that he called the police on us. That must be them now.

I don't want to run from the police anymore, not without Margo. Running is really tiring.

I see blue and red flashing lights off in the distance and the next thing I know, a team of police officers are here with me, their guns trained on Margo and I. The ringing in my ears is sort of fading away, so I hear a woman shout, "Step away from the girl and put your hands up!"

I blink a few times. I look down at Margo one last time and let go of her hand. Standing up, I put my hands up in the air, and a man comes over to me. He handcuffs me and begins to read me my rights, but I'm not really listening because I keep on asking him if Margo's gonna be alright and when the ambulance will be coming. No one answers me as two officers guide me across Sea World to the parking lot, where a police car is waiting by the entrance. They both shove me into the backseat of the car.

No one answers me.

~

When we arrive at the police station, they guide me to a small cement interview room, where I assume they'll be asking me questions about anything and everything that has happened in the past few days. The room has a metal table with two chairs on either side of it. One side of the wall is completely covered in a one-sided window, in which the detectives can see me through the window and I can only see my reflection.