When Hope is Shattered (Chapter Twenty-one)
It had been almost twenty minutes since Jason Trip and Ethan Connor had taken Mr. Raymond and his entire first period English class hostage and locked them all inside of room 221. A student had walked by the room and looked into the little window of the door to the classroom and realized what had happened. He ran down to the principal's office where the secretary told him to slow down. "I need to see Principal Senate now," he said breathlessly.
"What you need to do is sit down and wait," the secretary told him firmly. The student shook his head and ran past the desk to the area where the principal and vice principals' offices were. He walked in and saw that Principal Senate was in a meeting.
"Principal Senate, I need to talk to you," he said urgently. "It's really important."
"I'm sure it is, but as you can see, Mr. Scott, I'm in a meeting. I'm afraid you'll have to wait outside," Principal Senate said, getting up and starting to shut the door but Lucas stuck his foot out to block him. "You better remember your place, Mr. Scott," he said angrily.
"But they have guns," Lucas blurted out. Principal Senate froze and opened the door. Lucas quickly explained what he saw. Principal Senate jumped to life and started writing down on a piece of paper that all classrooms were to be put into lockdown and the police were to be notified, which the secretary did.
"I want you to go photocopy as many of these as you can. Take them to every class you pass on your way back to your own class. Then, give this to your teacher," he said. Lucas nodded.
"Then what?" he asked.
"That's it. Stay in your class after that stay calm and do what your teacher tells you to," he said. Lucas looked at him in disbelief and then laughed. "What's so funny?"
"My cousin and best friend are locked in a classroom with two armed maniacs and you want me to do nothing?" Lucas asked. Senate just looked at him. "Seriously?"
"What exactly do you think you can do?" Senate asked.
"Anything I can," Lucas replied.
"Once the police arrive, there will probably be a negotiator who will contact the students. That's how this situation will be resolved. It will not be resolved by you going into that classroom half-cocked and do or say something that could get yourself, your cousin, your best friend, the teacher and the rest of the students killed," Principal Senate said, looking at him sympathetically. Lucas nodded and took the piece of paper.
Mr. Raymond's cell phone rang in his briefcase on one of the desks and he started to reach for it, but Ethan was there and put the gun in front of his face. "Don't move a muscle," he said. Mr. Raymond looked at him.
"If I don't answer that, whoever it is will know that something is wrong because I always answer it," he said to him. Ethan nodded and then pointed the gun at Haley, whose eyes widened in fear. Nathan put one of his arms out in front of her in an attempt to protect her.
"You get up and get it. Then, tell me who it is," Ethan said. Haley remained where she was. "Do it now," Jason said. Haley shook her head and Nathan nodded at her to do it. Ethan looked at them and then revealed a second gun in his left hand and pointed it at Nathan. Haley's eyes widened at him. "Get the phone or I'll shoot him and believe me, I won't miss," he said. Haley got up and walked over.
"It's the police," she said and handed him the phone, but Ethan wouldn't take it.
"Answer it," he ordered. Haley shrugged and pushed the green little phone button.
"Hello," she said.
"Hello. My name is Sergeant Brown of the Tree Hill Police. I'm a hostage negotiator. To whom am I speaking?" a voice asked.
"Haley James," she replied softly.
"Miss James, have I reached the classroom with the gunmen?" he asked. Haley looked at Ethan and Jason. She could see Ethan fitting that description but it was weird to think of Jason as a "gunman".
"Yes," she replied.
"Have they killed anyone?" he asked.
"No."
"Shot or injured anyone in anyway?" he asked.
"No, but they're not shy about threatening to or putting the guns in people's faces," she replied almost harshly.
"Who is that?" Ethan demanded coming closer to her, but keeping his gun on Nathan.
"If that's one of them, let me speak to him," Sergeant Brown said. Haley handed the phone and explained to Ethan who it was. Ethan grabbed her and put one arm around her, locking her other arms at her sides while holding a gun to her head as if daring someone to make a move while he was on the phone.
"Yes?" Ethan demanded. There was a little bit of conversation but Haley couldn't tell what Sergeant Brown was saying. "What do I want? I want to kill my teacher. What do you want?" Haley shivered as she stood with him.
Nathan's veins turned to ice water as Ethan pushed the gun harder into Haley's neck when the negotiator had said something that had pissed him off. He told the negotiator that he had a gun pointed at Haley's neck and if the negotiator said something insulting again, he would not hesitate to shoot her. The negotiator had probably responded by telling him that he said he wanted to kill his teacher, not his fellow classmates. Ethan laughed and said, "That doesn't mean that she won't pay for your stupidity."
Haley looked at Nathan in terror. Nathan clenched his fists as he realized he couldn't do anything to help her. If he even tried to make a move at that particular moment, Ethan could easily blow Haley away. Jason could shoot one of the other students in retaliation. Nathan had realized from the beginning that they were in this for the long haul. Before they killed Mr. Raymond, they wanted to torture him or scare him. Perhaps even by killing other students because he was an ass.
Ethan slammed the phone down and let go of Haley. He pushed her forward hard. Haley held out her arms as she went flinging into the wall or to the ground, but Nathan made a move and caught her before she hit the wall. They were a few feet away from other people and Nathan sat down and wrapped a shaking Haley in his arms. "Shh. It's alright. You're fine," he whispered into her ear and she buried her head into his chest. He could feel her tears soaking his shirt.
Ethan walked over to them and instructed them to sit down and be quiet. Haley didn't move. In fact she just tightened her arms that were now anchored around Nathan and clung to him. He kissed the top of her head and carefully moved her and told her to do as she was told. "Haley, come with me," Jason said. She started to get up, but Nathan pulled her back.
"No way," he said. Jason laughed and pointed a gun to him.
"Don't be stupid, Scott," he said cocking the gun.
"Do you really think that I'm going to just let you take her so you can use her as a scare tactic for the police?" Nathan demanded.
"If you want to live, you'll do whatever we say," Ethan said from in front of Mr. Raymond.
"Nathan, it's ok. Just do what they say," Haley said, echoing his earlier words. He shook his head. She got up and walked over to Jason.
"I'm not going to hurt her," Jason promised. Nathan looked at him.
"Now why don't I believe you?" he asked, looking at the gun in his hands.
"You're a failure. You can't even hold hostages right," Mr. Raymond said angrily three hours later. Ethan looked at him in amusement.
"And you're incredibly stupid to antagonize someone with a gun," Ethan retorted.
"Stop it!" Haley exclaimed, looking over from the desk that she was seated at. They had Haley sitting down writing out a list of demands that the negotiator suggested they put together. Haley had become the one that both Jason and Ethan trusted and Nathan was not happy about it. It put her in bigger danger than any of them because she was literally closer to both of them. Ethan turned around and pointed one of his guns at him. Nathan panicked as he cocked the safety threateningly again. Haley seemed unfazed for the first time since the whole thing had begun.
"Put your gun down," Haley ordered. Ethan smirked at her in disbelief. "I'm not kidding. If you want my help, don't stick your gun in my face."
Ethan walked over to her and shoved the gun a few inches from her face. Haley dropped the pen on the floor and sat back in the chair, refusing to write anymore. "Pick the pen up," Ethan ordered tiredly. Haley shook her head. "Pick it up," he said raising the gun a little higher and pushing it against the side of her temple.
"You're such a coward," she said folding her arms across her chest in protest. "You need to stick a gun to someone's head to feel like a man. Do you think killing someone will give you the same feeling?" Jason and Ethan both looked at each other. It was clear that they didn't understand what she meant.
"Haley, what are you doing?" Nathan asked not caring that there was fear in his voice. She only looked at him in response. Then she turned her gaze back to Ethan.
"I hope it does. You might as well shoot me because until you take that gun away from my face and agree never to point it at me again, I'm not doing anything for you," she said.
"You're being incredibly stupid," he said.
"Look who's talking. Tell me, Ethan, why are you doing this?" Haley asked.
"I want to teach Mr. Raymond a lesson," Ethan said. Mr. Raymond laughed.
"You teach someone something? Now that is an amusing concept," he said, chuckling softly. Haley even rolled her eyes at the old man's stupidity. Haley was not being stupid. She was trying to get Ethan and Jason to respond to her. She was trying to establish some trust between all of them. She wasn't trying to piss them off.
"What kind of lesson? What did he ever do to you that would make you want to kill him?" Haley asked. Ethan scoffed.
"You don't see what he does every day? Are you really that blind?" he asked. Haley looked at him in confusion.
"He humiliates me in front of everyone on a regular basis because I'm not that good in English. Do you remember when we had to do that poem?" Ethan began. Haley nodded. "I wrote mine about a car. Now what you need to understand is that I wrote it the night before but I still worked hard on it. And what does he do? He picks it up and reads it aloud to the class, making little nasty comments about my 'poor writing skills'. Then when it's finished, he laughs and crumples it up and throws it in the garbage. Then when it was a student/parent/teacher interview last week and my mom asks him why I got an 'F' on the poem, he told her that I never handed it in." Haley turned to her teacher and looked at him with disgust.
"You're a teacher. You're supposed to encourage students to succeed not set them up to fail," she lectured.
"Miss James, I was only doing him a favour and saving the school system a lot of money because we all know where he belongs and it isn't in a classroom. He belongs in jail and this situation should make it all the more obvious why," Mr. Raymond explained.
"That isn't for you to decide. Everyone has a right to an education. When this is over, if you're still alive, you can bet that I'm going to go to the school board," Haley threatened.
"You're siding with them, Haley? Come on, they're the ones with the guns and holding all of us hostage just because their teacher gave them a hard time," Nathan said.
"I'm not condoning this, Nathan. Believe me. I'm the one who has a gun to my head here," Haley said angrily. She would never condone violence. But she understood why they were angry.
"It's easy for you to say, Scott. You may not have good grades, but Mr. Raymond doesn't treat you like crap because you can play basketball. If you couldn't, you wouldn't be so quick to judge us," Jason said. Nathan actually laughed.
"If you want to teach him a lesson, you're going about it the wrong way. Killing him isn't going to do anything but eat away your consciences," Haley said. Ethan scoffed.
"Or get you killed," Nathan added. They looked at him. "You guys really haven't thought this through, have you?" Nathan didn't know exactly what he meant but he knew that it was a good point. He figured Haley would know what he meant. He looked at Haley for help and she looked at him as if she knew where he was going.
"He's right, you know. By now, the police have probably got a SWAT team inside the building. They could be across the street with a gun fixed on you. They could be outside the door or in the vents up above us right now," Haley said.
"What are you babbling about?" Jason asked.
"There is a certain procedure that the police follow when there is a hostage situation. Sending in a negotiator is usually the first step. At some point, the SWAT team might decide to just shoot you so that this whole thing will be over with," Haley said.
"Please," Ethan said.
"It happens in the movies on a regular basis," Haley said.
"This is real life," Ethan argued.
"Well think about it. School shootings happen in movies and on television all the time. Then Columbine happened and shootings started arising all around the country. Do you want to take a guess at what they'll call this?" Haley asked.
"This isn't a school shooting. Those were disgruntled students who came into room after room and open fired on everyone inside. We're not doing that," Jason argued. Haley smirked.
"Right now you're holding a gun up to my head and threatening to pull the trigger. Do you really think that just because you haven't killed anyone or that your vendetta is with a teacher and not a student, you're somehow better than them?" Haley said angrily.
"And Haley never did anything to you. In fact, she's the only one of us who actually cares about you. They just want to get out of here and save their own skin. I want to save Haley. I don't care about what happens to you," Nathan said. "In my opinion, you've already sealed your fate."
Haley sat down at the chair and sighed as Ethan continued to argue with Mr. Raymond. "I should kill you right now," he said. Mr. Raymond smirked.
"If it means I won't have to hear your pathetic whining anymore, go right ahead," Mr. Raymond said. Haley looked at him in disbelief. He seemed to really have a death wish.
"Nobody's killing anyone," Haley said. Ethan turned around to look at her.
"You don't call the shots here, Haley," he reminded her.
"We've been here for over four hours now. Don't you think it's about time that you gave it up and let us go?" Nathan asked.
"Shut up, Scott," Jason barked.
"No. I'm sick of this. We didn't do anything to you. Mr. Raymond may be a jerk but he doesn't deserve to die for it. You guys are just pathetic because things don't always go your way," Nathan said, standing up and walking up to Ethan, who raised the gun up at him.
"Nathan, please, just sit down," Haley said. Nathan shook his head as Ethan aimed the guy a little higher.
"Why don't you stop being a coward? Having that gun doesn't make you tough. You only have it because you know that without it, you wouldn't have any power," Nathan said. Ethan just scoffed.
"Nathan, stop it," Haley said.
Ethan turned around and pointed the gun at Haley's head and started to pull the trigger. "I think I have some power," he said to Nathan.
"You son of a bitch. Let her go. She's done nothing but help you," Nathan said, walking closer to Haley.
"You're not so cocky now, are you?" Ethan taunted.
"Let her go," Nathan repeated. Ethan shook his head. Nathan took an opportunity to move the gun away from Haley and out of Ethan's hand. He shoved Ethan hard and he fell to the ground. Ethan pulled the second gun out and pulled the trigger. Nathan felt a burning in his chest and put his hand up to it. When he pulled them away, there was blood smeared on them. He looked at Haley.
"Nathan!" Haley screamed. She got up and ran to him as he was falling down to the ground. She managed to get there in time to catch him before he fully hit the ground. She quickly sat down and put his head gently down on her lap. She started crying as she watched him gasp for air. "Nathan," she said in misery. He grabbed one of her hands and held it to his chest.
"I love you," he said before his eyes fluttered close.
"No!" Haley exclaimed. "No, no, no." She quickly felt for a pulse and her spirits lifted when there was one. It was weak but it was still there. She took her sweater off to reveal her white spaghetti strap tank top and covered Nathan's wound with the shirt and kept pressure on it. She looked to Ethan and Jason. "Look at what you've done," she exclaimed.
"It went off by accident," Ethan said.
"You aimed the gun at him and pulled the trigger. How is that an accident?" Haley screeched as she continued to put pressure on Nathan's wound.
"We'll get him help and let everyone go on one condition," Ethan said. Haley glared at him. She wasn't so caring anymore.
"You may very well have killed someone and you think you're in a position to bargain?" she demanded. He actually smiled at her.
"Your boyfriend's lying on the floor bleeding to death. Do you think you're in a position to argue?" Ethan retorted. Haley looked at him angrily. Then she looked at Nathan who was losing blood as she made this choice.
"What is it?" she asked.
"You get on the phone with the negotiator and tell him to pull all of his men out of the building," he said.
"He'll never agree to it," she said.
"Then Scott's already dead," Ethan said, gesturing to Nathan. Haley nodded and took the cell phone he handed her. She dialled the number and Sergeant Brown answered.
"Miss James. It's nice to hear that you're alive," he said.
"Be quiet and let me say what I have to say. Ethan and Jason have asked me to speak to you on their behalf. They have an offer for you," Haley said.
"I'm listening," Brown said.
"They'll let you bring Nathan Scott out so he can receive medical treatment. Once you've pulled your men out of the building, they'll let us out two people at a time," Haley said.
"Miss James, you know I can't pull my men out," he said. Haley slammed the phone down on the desk so it would hurt his ear. Then she put it back up to her mouth.
"Listen to me very carefully. I've been held here against my will for eight hours. I've had a gun pointed at my head at least a dozen times, my boyfriend is lying on the floor bleeding to death and when I have a chance to be set free, you're telling me no. I'm sick of being jerked around. I want to go home. I want to visit Nathan in the hospital as he recovers. It's our lives you're playing with, not yours. No more games," she exclaimed.
"All right, Miss James," Sergeant Brown said.