it was a Wednesday night and I had no idea that evening would change my life forever I had been studying late in the dorm's common room flipping through pages I could barely focus on the clock ticked over to midnight and most of the campus had gone still silent save for the occasional Creek of floorboards or the distant muffled voices of those in their rooms I should have gone to bed but something made me stay up some strange restlessness I couldn't shake then I heard it three knocks at the door slow deliberate my heart gave a
single hard thump in my chest I looked around no one else was awake at least no one in my immediate vicinity my roommate was out for the weekend visiting family so it was just me I got up and moved toward the door when I opened the door there she was Cara Welsh I knew Cara but only in the way you know someone through campus she was popular a gymnast we had a class together once but we'd never really spoken what was she doing here Cara I asked my voice catching my throat her eyes were wide
but not in the normal sense her hair hung in damp tendrils around her face as if she had just run through the rain but it hadn't rained in days let me in she choked shivering as she pushed past me into the room I watched as she stood in the center of the space her back to me I was too stunned to stop her her shoulders were trembling though not from the cold Cara you okay I asked moving toward her slowly she turned her head just enough to let me see her profile and my stomach dropped
there was something on her skin a smear of red blood I stepped back and instinctively what happened she didn't answer right away just stood there swaying slightly she won't leave me alone she sobbed her eyes flicked to mine wild and unfocused he's watching he's always watching a chill ran down my spine a stalker I asked bewildered she didn't answer instead she started pacing back and forth her movements jittery as if something was crawling under her skin every now and then she would glance toward the window as if expecting to see someone out there in the
darkness I didn't mean to do it Jose she broke down suddenly do what she stopped pacing and looked at me her eyes full of something I couldn't Place guilt fear it was an accident she said her voice barely audible no you won't stop he's here he's everywhere I stepped toward her trying to understand what she was talking about who's here she didn't answer she trembled as waves of Hysteria traveled through her I pulled the curtain and peeped outside but there was nothing there just the empty campus bathed in the dim light of the street lamps
Cara sobbed harder not wailing but these broken gasping sobs like something inside her it snapped I didn't know what to do I should have called someone anyone but I was caught in the tension of the moment just as I was about to speak Cara's body stiffened her eyes wide and terrified as the door behind me burst open there he stood a man his face obscured by Shadows his presence overpowering I couldn't move he looked at Cara and in one chilling second I understood it was him it only took a second he raised a gun the
sound of the shots rang out and Cara collapsed in a pool of her own blood I couldn't move I couldn't breathe it happened so fast too fast the man didn't even glance in my direction without a word he turned and walked out disappearing into the night as if nothing had happened for what felt like hours I stared at Cara's lifeless body the air was Heavy with the scent of blood and death the boys had come out of their rooms somebody during the commotion dialed 911 soon the world around me blurred into a fog of sirens
police and paramedics they were late as I was they arrested the man the next day a 23-year-old classmate no one knew why he did it no one could explain why Cara of all people had been his Target and the questions lingered like goat S as the investigation went on even though they caught him the horror of that night won't leave me it clung to the walls of the dorm to be recounted for eternity we were shifted to another dorm but sometimes late at night when the campus is quiet people still talk about Cara they say
they hear knocking slow and deliberate coming from behind the door of an empty room some say it's the sound of a Restless Soul others say it's still haunted by the questions that will never have [Music] answers the alarm blared through the school rattling me out of a lazy slump against my locker at first I rolled my eyes another drill typical the teachers loved making a big deal out of their safety protocols especially after everything in the news lately I yawned and gave Mason a smirk guess guess they're really committed to giving us a heart attack
before finals huh Mason gave a half-hearted chuckle but Ashley wasn't laughing she had that panicked look the echo of an announcement crackled over the PA system the dean's voice but there was something different about it an edge of panic announcing that this wasn't a drill she sounds serious the words barely settled in when the first gunshot echoed through the hallway it wasn't a firecracker it wasn't a prank it was the unmistakable gut-wrenching sound of something terrible happening we looked at each other the color draining from our faces we need to get out of here I
knew about a hidden maintenance hallway from one of the janitors it was a shortcut used to move cleaning supplies and avoid the chaos of the school's crowded corridors I led my friends through the corridor taking a sharp ride at the end of the lockers and pride open a door marked employees only Mason grabbed Ashley's hand guiding her in behind me the air was musty thick with the smell of bleach and floor wax it was narrow cramped but at least it was away from the noise the screaming the shots we moved quickly Ashley's was crying and
Mason was as freaked out as me as we rounded a corner the PA system crackled to life again it wasn't the dean this time but Mr Higgins his voice trembling we have to tell them they deserve to know the dean cut him off her voice tense not now we can't risk it they'll Panic they should Panic we knew this would happen we let it happen I paused holding up my hand to shush the others we all strain to listen we can't discuss this now focus on keeping the students safe the intercom cut out abruptly leaving
us standing there a heavy silence hanging in the air I exchanged a with Mason what were they talking about something they knew something about one of the students Ashley wiped her eyes I didn't have an answer we pressed on pushing through a metal door that opened into the back lot the cold air slapped me in the face waking me up from the days of fear Freedom we made it I turned to smile at Mason and Ashley but that's when I saw him a figure standing in the shadows by the fence he stepped into to the
light and I felt my stomach drop he wore all black a mask covering most of his face but I could see his eyes cold empty the gun in his hand hung Loosely at his side he took a step towards us and I instinctively moved in front of Ashley my heart hammered in my chest my mouth dry I knew those eyes it was Eric his girlfriend was sexually assaulted the previous year but the dean and management hushed the investigation since it happened in the school premises and would bring them a bad name Eric had dropped out
shortly after frustrated at the lack of action Eric please this is not the way to punish them the shooter tilted his head as if considering my words for a moment the world seemed to slow down the distant sounds of sirens the muffled screams it all faded away he took another step and I closed my eyes waiting but then walked away through the secret passage we had come from I stood there Frozen until Mason grabbed my arm pulling me toward the gate we ran out Ashley sobbing Mason Breathing heavily but my mind was somewhere else it
wasn't after the students it was after the school the administration that knew that watched and did nothing the teachers the dean they let it happen they ignored the warnings dismissed the complaints and now this was the price we made it to the main road the flashing lights of police cars blinding me the voices of officers shouting orders a distant blur I rushed up to the first officer and told them everything that I knew they chased after Eric through the secret passageway as well while we were escorted away in the back of a cruiser few shots
were fired a few minutes later the police got to Eric before he could do something to the dean and others no student was harmed but while Eric took the wrong path somehow the system made him go there truly a tragedy when gentle souls are pushed down this path the lockdown alarm blared through the school yanking me out of my Daydream I've been staring at the clock during history class and slept but the alarms went off at first we all assumed it was another drill but something felt different the tone of the announcement over the intercom
was frantic the principal's voice cracking with fear my heart pounded as Mrs Reynolds clicked the classroom door shut and turned the lock she motioned for us to get under our desks the lights already off whisper spread across the room like wildfire but I stayed silent my breath caught my throat the only thought raising through my mind was Jake my twin brother Jake wasn't there he'd skipped school again lately he had been skipping more and more avoiding PE class ever since Mr Grady had started singling him out Jake had always been an easy target for bullies
but Mr Grady never helped if anything he encouraged it made Jake the punchline of his jokes but I was just relieved Jake wasn't there at least he was safe the minutes dragged on tension mounting with every second we could hear Footsteps in the hallway faint but deliberate Mrs Reynolds stood near the door her face pale her eyes fixed on the handle as though it might turn at any moment suddenly the sharp crack of a gunshot rang out the room froze I felt my stomach drop my heart pounding so hard I thought it might burst another
shot louder closer this time screams echoed from down the hall and then nothing just silence Mrs Reynolds whispered for us to stay calm her voice trembling it's going to be okay she said but we all knew it wasn't not when someone was out there armed and we were sitting ducks the intercom crackled to life startling us all a distorted voice echoed through the speakers the dean fulfills my demands or I start killing hostages my stomach lurched hostages my mind raised trying to make sense of it who could be doing this the prince announced locked in
his office that he doesn't negotiate with terrorists a cold cruel voice came back over the intercom five students in room 306 I'll give you 10 minutes 306 biology my heart sank my crush my love Emily had that class Mrs Reynolds didn't hesitate now certain about where the shooter was she gestured for us to follow her to the back door which led into a maintenance hallway it was was our only chance I moved with the others my heart pounding we slipped out moving intense silence but as we reached the stairwell more gunshots rang Out close too
close a bullet shattered the window next to me Mrs Reynolds screamed dragging one of the students down but we were pinned close to room 306 we heard sirens the shooter was likely shooting out from the window at the cops something happened to me just then I left out and ran the other way only halting as I arrived at room 306 and glanced carefully through the glass at the door my heart sank Emily was there tied up along with five other students the shooter was hiding beside the window taking shots outside my breath caught in my
throat I couldn't leave her I had to do something for Emily I crept into the maintenance room next to the Supply Closet it connected to room 306 through a small store hatch my heart pounded in my ears as I pulled a wrench from a shelf gripping it tightly I edged closer to the door my breath shallow peeking through the crack I saw the shooter his back turned to me his gun aimed at outside at the cops in one swift motion I opened the door and swung the wrench as hard as I could it connected with
a sickening thud and the shooter crumpled to the floor the gun slipping from his hand I dropped the wrench my hands trembling as I knelt beside him blood pulled around his head and he fell unconscious the hostages rushed out screaming and the police charged in I stood in shock my fingers fumbling to pull off his mask that's when my heart stopped the face staring back at me was Jake my twin brother I stumbled backward my mind reeling how why he wasn't supposed to be here he he could couldn't be the shooter but there he was
unconscious the gun beside him the police burst into the room seconds later dragging Jake away but I couldn't move I couldn't breathe later they told me what happened Jake had been pushed too far tormented until he snapped he'd planned this skipping school to avoid suspicion returning with a gun to Target Mr Grady the man who had made his life a living hell but it had SP spiral out of control when he couldn't get to Grady I stopped the shooter but the price was too high I had saved them only to find out the person behind
the mask was my own brother
