(ok… I know this has taken me a deliriously ridiculous amount of time but I was busy with other stuff and couldn't think of the proper way to continue this, sorry for the delay and thank you so much for all of your reviews!!)
Lucas could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He could hear Brooke's pained shallow breaths and Peyton's panicked ones. All he could see before him were the endless halls, having been so ordinary only the day before, turn into a confusing maze of tunnels.
When he arrived at school that day all he had had on his mind was the English paper he'd forgotten at home and thoughts of his girlfriend whom he had been anxious to see again.
Now he was stuck in this nightmare, praying for his girlfriend's life was well as his own safe return to the outside world. Only problem was, he wasn't waking up.
--
The school was silent as the three of them made their way down the familiar halls. Peyton couldn't believe she was actually living this. This whole scenario was only supposed to be seen on the news or in a movie. Something like this was only heard about; it's not supposed to happen to you. This had to be all in her head.
As she looked around, the lockers lining the hallway were all a blur. It was as if things weren't moving fast enough. She was caught in slow motion. She wanted things to move faster so she could get the hell out of there but the thought of making any noise scared her. The problem was her mind was racing. She was on autopilot, allowing Lucas to lead her as she stayed as close to him as possible. This can't be happening. This can't be happening. This can't be happening. Wake up!
No, dreams weren't creative enough to include the strangled sound of her best friend trying to breath, or the look of fear and desperation on Lucas's face, nor the feeling of suspense as they walked the halls. In dreams, somehow the dreamer always has a sense of what's going to happen because the vision is a creation of their own imagination, there can really be no surprises. Peyton had no idea how this day was going to end.
--
You know that really weak feeling you get after you've had the stomach flu and have been in bed for the better part of a week? It was kind of like that.
Brooke couldn't remember feeling so tired and drained before. It was surreal, like she was waiting for her body to snap out of it. But it wasn't. She was stuck in an almost paralyzed state. She could barely feel her boyfriend's arms around her now. She had lost the feeling in her legs. She had gotten cold, now she was freezing and it was a constant reminder that something weird was happening to her – something she never thought she'd have to experience. She tried to tell herself that if she only allowed sleep to consumer her, things would be normal again when she woke up. This all had to be in her head or something. It would all be over soon. But every time she tried to close her eyes, someone would tell her to stay awake, "be strong" and "hang in there."
She could hear Peyton talking to her, trying to remind her of good times, trying to keep her away from unconsciousness while Luke kept up this mantra of "You'll be ok, I promise you'll be ok." However, after a little while, it sounded like her friends were speaking through a tube, like the sound was strangely funnelled.
It wasn't supposed to be like this. She was supposed to go on and do something great. She and Lucas were supposed to grow up and get married and have those kids they had talked about a few times before. She had her whole life ahead of her. Why did this have to happen? Why me?
--
As they turned another corner, they saw someone standing a little ways down the hall. Peyton's heart stopped dead. Lucas swallowed his fear and called out
"Jimmy? Is that you?" The boy turned around. Lucas let out a sigh of relief at the sight of his old friend. "Hey, man, do you know a safe way out of here? I've been looking all over but most doors are locked." he continued. He took a few steps forward and stopped when he saw the strange, indifferent expression on the boy's face. "Jim, are you ok? You've gotta help us, Brooke's not doing so great, I've gotta get her out of here…" he trailed off as he saw the boy take a gun out of his hoody.
"Oh, so now you want to talk to me - when you need something. I see how it is. You know you've been a great friend, Lucas. You joined that god awful team and left all your friends behind. Thanks a bunch ass hole. And now you want my help. Well what if I were to tell you that I was the reason for that hole in your cheerleader girlfriend? What if I were the reason for all that blood on the both of you. What if I were the reason she'll never make it out of this school alive today? Best Friend, what do you think about that?" Jimmy taunted as he took a few steps closer to the three.
Lucas' heart was pounding in his ears. He could hardly hear what Jimmy was saying after he saw the gun. This couldn't be real. Jimmy was his friend; they had played basketball and gone to school together for years. This wasn't the boy he knew. He could feel Peyton latched onto his arm and held Brooke tighter. If Jimmy was mad at him, then he was the reason for Brooke's injury.
"I'm sorry, Jimmy. I didn't want it to turn out this way. I always considered you a friend and unfortunately we went our separate ways. But do you really want to be responsible for someone's death? Do you want to have someone's blood on your hands? She's dying, Jim. Please, let me get her out of here," he begged, fighting back the tears that flooded his eyes at the thought of his pretty girl dying.
Jimmy stopped for a moment and looked down at Brooke. For a moment some of the stoicism left his face and he looked worried.
"She deserved it. She didn't know anything other than popularity. She had no idea what was going on with everyone else in the school, Miss Student Council President, but she knew she was popular and she had her popular friends around her and her star basketball player of a boyfriend. I shot the Queen Bee of the school. She's down. We're all free.." he trailed off, not sure how he was going to continue.
"Jimmy, what did she ever do to you? If anything, since Brooke has been president, improvements have been made. And if you think that she's just some stuck up, superficial plastic party girl, then you're wrong. Jim, there's so much more that you don't know about. And if you judge her by what you see and hear, then you're far worse than your own accusations of her. Jimmy, you know me. You know the kind of person I am. I haven't changed much. I think you've gotten your point across. Now please, let us go. I can get her help before you sentence yourself to life in prison. Please." Lucas held his eye contact with Jimmy. The boy seemed to stop for a moment to consider. Lucas could see he had worn away some of his confidence and just hoped beyond hope that some of his friend was still left in that cold shell of a killer.