I crept up the side of the building, sticking to the brick effortlessly. The crowd shouted at me from below, a mixture of encouragement and concern, but I continued up the wall nonetheless. Karen began to speak, but I quickly shut her off. I didn't need a voice in my head right now. When I reached the second floor, I carefully opened a window, then vaulted into the classroom that awaited me on the other side.

The sight that greeted me was horrific.

The door to the classroom had been kicked off of its hinges and lay splintered on the floor. Desks and chairs had been strewn about the room without regard, riddled with bullets and scratches. It wasn't until I rounded a pile of chairs that my heart stopped.

On the floor were three students. Young ones, too; even younger than me. Their eyes, still open, were glazed and lifeless. Blood pooled on the floor around their bodies, spilling from the bullet holes in their chests and arms and legs. I quickly checked for pulses, but found none. The one nearest to me, I recognized as a boy named Ashton. I had accidentally bumped into him in the hall just this morning, and apologized. We had spoken just hours ago.

Now he was… gone.

I stood there for a moment, stricken by the horror surrounding me. Grief poured into my heart, and I staggered backwards, bumping into the teacher's desk. There was a squeaking noise from behind the piece of furniture, and I started in fright. Whirling around, I spotted two other students huddled underneath the desk. One appeared to be sporting a bullet wound to her shoulder, while her friend, another young girl, was pressing her jacket to the wound to help stop the bleeding. They both stared at me, wide-eyed in terror.

"Hey," I whispered, my voice trembling slightly as I knelt down beside of them. "It's ok, I'm here to help."

"He shot them," the wounded girl said, pointing at the bodies with a shaking finger. "He… he shot them, you have to help them," she babbled. "Please, go help my friends -"

"I'm gonna get you two out of here first," I interjected, thinking quickly. The girl was obviously in a fragile state, probably going into shock.

"We can't leave the room," the girl's friend murmured in a hushed voice.

"I'm gonna get you out through the window," I responded. "Follow me, quick."

Tip-toeing across the messy, bloodstained floor, I led the girls to the opened window across the room. Leaning outside, I waved my hands wildly until I caught the attention of a few of the officers below. Then, I carefully attached a web to the wounded girl's torso, wrapping it snugly around her slight frame until there was no chance of her slipping.

As quietly as I could, I lifted the girl out of the window, wincing as she cried out in pain, clutching her shoulder. Then, I slowly let her down the side of the building, my arms aching from the effort. The officers crowded around the wall at the bottom, cutting the webs off of the girl and helping her onto a stretcher. The other girl was a bit heavier, but she soon joined her friend on the ground.

I breathed out in relief, but I knew my work was only just beginning.

I set out into the hallway, scanning the area for any signs of life. More bodies were scattered along the floor, and I recognized nearly all of them. I knew their names. What classes they were in.

I shuddered, knowing that I needed to keep my mind focused on the task at hand. There would be time to grieve later, and yet it was all I wanted to do; to weep and mourn over the lives lost.

The next two classrooms were similar to the first; two to three students dead, others in hiding. I sent more to the ground, where the officers assisted. Still, no MJ. I wracked my brain, trying to remember which room had been hers.

When I reached the next room, I heart footsteps, and muffled voices. My heart skipped a beat, and I peered into the room carefully. There, in the center of the room, stood a tall, burly man wearing a black ski mask. In his hands was an automatic rifle, pointed straight at a group of three students crouched in the corner. With a jolt, I recognized all of them. Particularly the girl in front, her hands spread out to guard the other two.

MJ. My heart stopped. Then the anger took over.

"Hey!" I shouted without even thinking, stepping into the room.

As the man whirled around, a volley of bullets flew from his weapon. I narrowly dodged the fray, leaping to the ceiling above him with a quick shoot of a web. Then, I landed a heavy kick into the man's face, sending him tumbling backwards. I grabbed his rifle, tossing it out of the class door where it landed on the hallway floor with a thud. The man, to my horror, pulled out a pistol from his jacket. There was a gunshot.

I heard a scream from behind me.

A bullet grazed the left side of my abdomen and I screeched in pain. I fell to the floor, and my vision spun around me. Then, shaking my head, I climbed to my feet, just as the shooter fired another round. I managed to dodge this bullet, thankfully, and kicked the weapon out of his hand before he could discharge another shot. Then, I webbed the man to the ground, perhaps a bit more than was necessary. I didn't care.

As MJ and the others began to emerge from their hideout in the corner, I crouched beside the shooter, pulling off his ski mask with a rough yank. With surprise, I realized he was young; perhaps only a few years out of high school. But the gleam in his blue eyes was hateful and perhaps one of the most evil, vindictive things I had ever seen in all my life. A chill ran down my spine, and I shot a web over his mouth before he could speak.

"We should go, in case there's another one," MJ spoke up, taking charge, as always, despite the tremor in her voice.

"This is the second," I replied. "They already caught another one on the other side of the second floor.

There was a pause, and a tense silence, as if we were awaiting another wave of gunshots nearby. Nothing. I sighed quietly, then turned to face MJ and the others, a boy named Calvin and another girl called Jeana.

"I'm gonna get you out through the window," I explained. "The officers will help you once you reach the bottom."

"Let's go," MJ agreed, leading the march to the nearest window, where she slid it open with a dull thud.

I let the other two go down first, which was an easier task now that the officers were prepared. Then, it was just MJ and myself.

"Can I just say," she said in a light tone, although I knew she was just as terrified and grief-stricken as I was. "We gotta stop meeting like this."

"You're tellin' me," I replied with a nervous chuckle, then hastily snapped back to the present situation. Clearing my throat, I held my hand out to help her out of the window. "Now let's get you out of here."

I wrapped a web carefully around her stomach, subconsciously checking for injuries.

"Dude, I'm ok, really" she assured me, and I felt my face flaming underneath my mask.

As she climbed onto the window sill, however, her foot suddenly slipped, and to my horror, she fell into the open air. In a split second, I leaped out of the window, then spun in mid-air, attaching a web from my free hand to the roof just a few feet above the window. The web holding MJ became taunt as she halted about ten feet down from where I hung. My arms strained, struggling to hold MJ while simultaneously clasping to the roof.

"Hang on!" I yelled down to her, my voice cracking as fear clouded my mind.

"Let her go!" an officer argued from the ground. "We'll catch her!"

"Are you crazy?!" I exclaimed, eying the distance between MJ and the ground. I suppose it was doable, but my stomach clenched at the thought of her hitting the pavement instead.

"Do it!" MJ responded, glancing up at me. I breathed in and out heavily, gritting my teeth together as my shoulders ached, my side stinging as the wound continued to ooze blood.

"I'm not letting you go!" I shouted down to her.

"Listen to me," MJ replied, her eyes softening ever so slightly. "They'll catch me, ok? You need to let me go!"

Before either of us could continue, fate decided for us. The web holding MJ snapped. She tumbled through the air, a cry escaping her lips.

"NO!" I screamed.

The officers quickly came together, holding out their arms. MJ fell right in the middle of the group, and I nearly fell myself from relief. I shut my eyes for a moment. She was ok.

I quickly hopped down to the ground as the officers helped MJ to her feet.

"Are you alright?" I asked, unable to help the squeak in my voice as she pushed past the officers to get to me.

"I'm fine," she answered with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"You did good, Spider-Man," one of the officers added. "We're happy you were in the area to help out."

"He got the shooter pinned down in that room up there," MJ said, gesturing to the window we had just fallen from.

The officers murmured their thanks, then their radios crackled, and they raced off in different directions, leaving me with MJ.

"I need to go back," I found myself saying aloud, glancing back up the second story.

"What?!"said MJ. "You can't! There could be another shooter!"

"There could also be more kids stuck up there," I argued, starting to walk towards the wall.

"You've done enough," she called, lunging after me.

"I have to help them," I responded over my shoulder.

"You can't go in there!" she said, grabbing me by the arm.

There was something different about her voice this time. Concern. Real concern. Worry. I paused, glancing around to see her staring at me with wide, fearful eyes. There was something deep hidden within her brown orbs, and a sudden thought occurred to me.

Did she know?

"I…" I began, my voice trailing off as I searched for the right words. "I have to."

Her face fell, and tears stung her sweaty, grimy face. My heart stuttered at the sight, and more than anything, I wanted to embrace her, and tell her everything would be alright. I could sense her hand shaking as it squeezed my arm, then let go. Then, she backed away, uttering one last thing before I sprung up the wall once more.

"Be safe."