Keep Hope Alive

Author's Notes: Thank you for all the reviews! I love them! It definitely gives me inspiration to write more. A few parts, mostly quotes, are taken from the show. So credit to the brilliant Mark Schawn for a little of it. Well, I know you are dying to find out if Brooke's okay, so I'll get on with it. Chapter title credit- Like A Man Possessed by the Get Up Kids.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that is One Tree Hill or its characters.

Chapter Six: Like A Man Possessed

Lucas stared into the eyes of the brunette across from him. Never had he seen so much tears, so much fear, in her eyes. The sight of it physically pained him. Seeing the soft tears coming out of her eyes, he started to develop some of his own.

He turned as he felt the presence of someone, and saw his brother standing next to him. At that moment, he envied him. Getting to his wife, the women he loved, in his arms and knew that she was safe. Lucas pleaded with Jimmy, once more.

"I…I can't. If I let her go, then…that would just be too much. No. It's too much." Jimmy rambled on.

"Why Jim? Why is it too much?"

Lucas looked over to see the faint voice coming from Mouth. Mouth knew he didn't just mean the shooting was too much, he meant everything was.

"Why?" Mouth asked once again. "Why are you doing this? What made you do this? What's too much?"

Jimmy, starting to get annoyed with Mouth's persistence, scratched his head. Lucas could tell that Jimmy was starting to fidget, and that worried him. He still had a gun in his hand, and it was still pressed to Brooke.

"Stop! This is too much. All of this. I just…I just wanted to make it better."

"Make what better?" Lucas looked toward the other set of desks, now seeing that Rachel was speaking.

"Everything. It's so bad here, it needed to be fixed. No one cares. Not about me, no one cares. Well now they do, I made them care."

"Hey man, what's yo problem?" All heads turned to the annoying voice of none other than Tim, trying to talk like he was something.

"What's my problem? People like you, and you, and even you." He said, pointing with his free hand from Tim, to Nathan, then to Lucas.

"No one cares about anyone but themselves. I just wanted people to notice me, to know who I am."

He ended his gaze on the group, and was no focused back on Brooke.

"What about you? The popular Brooke Davis. Do you know who I am?" He asked, in a very serious tone.

Lucas looked to Brooke, hoping to everything that she knew. He hadn't mentioned anything to her about it before, because he didn't want to worry her.

Brooke faintly shook her head, and Jimmy gave a sigh. Once again, he tightened his hand on the gun, still holding it to her. She could feel the metal pressing harder against her skin.

"Theresa's dead." Nathan spoke up. He wasn't sure whether the statement would hurt or help the situation, but it was worth a try.

"We saw her in the hall, on our way here. She was shot…in the chest."

A few cries we're heard, and everyone looked over to see them coming from Bevin. Even Rachel had a look on her face that no one had seen before. A look of sadness. She too, was on the verge of crying.

"You need to let Brooke go."

Jimmy now carried a confused expression. He was very angry and confused, and unsure of what to do.

"Jim! C'mon man, don't do this!" Skillz yelled to Jimmy. Then another plead came from Mouth, and then one from Nathan. Haley held on him tightly as he did so, worried for his well-being.

"Let her go." Lucas said strongly, his eyes begging to Jimmy.

Jimmy looked around, then threw his hands up in defeat. "Go!" He yelled as he pointed in the direction of Lucas. He started to fidget once more, confused and nervous. His leverage, his safety, was now gone.

Brooke ran to Lucas, and collapsed into his arms. "It's okay. You're okay now." He said as he stroked her hair, and she wiped a few tears from her eyes. Never in her life had she held onto someone so tightly. "You're safe now. I won't let you go." He said in a reassuring tone. "I love you."

"No one comes close! I swear I'll shoot!" Jimmy screamed as he held up the gun once more. His eyes darted the halls, where Theresa would be laying. He had to see it for himself.

"Nobody leave's this room! Don't even come close to the door. "

Jimmy looked around for confirmation that they understood, then slowly went into the hallway to find Theresa.

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Karen quickly closed her phone after reading a text message from Haley, and looked first at Peyton. "It was Haley. They're all in there. In a classroom, the tutor center." Karen explained, to Keith, Peyton, and Larry who were all standing near.

"And there's one kid, Jim Edwards." She stated, knowing that name sounded rather familiar.

Keith looked at his fiancée for a second, then quickly hugged her. "I need to go do something."

Karen looked at his with a confused expression. "I'll be right back Karen, I promise." She gave a nod, and he walked away.

A minute later, he approached Dan.

"We got a text from Haley. There all inside, including Nathan and Lucas." Dan looked at his brother, skeptically.

"Look, Danny, I know we've had our differences lately. But you gotta let me try to talk to him. I know this kid. If they go in there, he's gonna get spooked, and this thing's gonna turn out bad. Please, just let me try."

Dan abruptly shook his head. "No way, it's too dangerous."

"Dan please. You can get me in there, nobody has to know."

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Jimmy slowly walked back to the room, as the lifeless body he had seen kept flashing in his mind. As he stepped into the room, he let out a yell. He saw Haley, on her phone. She quickly dropped it, and Jimmy ran towards her.

Nathan tightly wrapped his arms around her, but felt her being pulled away from him.

"I told you no phones!" He screamed. "What did you do? Who did you call?" He screamed.

Nathan put his hand up, defending Haley. "Just leave her alone, man."

Jimmy shook his head and raised the gun to them, and quickly grabbed Haley.

"Why did you do this?" He yelled as he dragged her towards the hall. They had to get out of there, he had to get out of there. If she called someone, then they knew where everyone was.

As they reached the door, Jimmy spun around quickly and raised the gun that he held in his hands.

"No one leaves. I mean it, nobody! Or I promise you, whoever steps into that hallway is gonna die."

Everyone looked in his direction, knowing he was completely serious.

"Don't. Just stop. Don't do this." Rachel pleaded, tears quickly flowing out of her eyes.

He grabbed Haley once more, and pulled in her into the hallway as everyone watched in horror.

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Well, there it is. I'm starting to love these cliffies! I don't want to spoil anyone about upcoming chapters, but I will tell you this. The character death WAS NOT Theresa, and you will be finding out shortly.