ANOTHER SIDE, ANOTHER STORY

Chapter Twenty Five

Genocide

Screams filled the halls of Hazen High School. Steven could hear them echoing off the walls outside the classroom door. He was staring around the room with an empty, shocked feeling and he almost felt just as dead as the rest of his math class. What just happened? Why had everyone dropped dead all of the sudden? Steven still had his Death Notes tucked safely away, one in his backpack and one under the care of Zando at home. Could Zando have screwed up? Did Ryoku the hunter find him somehow? But neither of the Shinigami would have any reason for writing this in the Death Note.

Steven burst out of the door, covering his mouth and looking around. People—a surprisingly low amount of people—were running out of their classrooms screaming. Steven recognized Garret throwing up in a trashcan half-way down the hallway.

So Steven's class wasn't the only one with murdered students. But…how many? He felt stricken. How many people were dead? Who could've done this?

He felt a tug at his arm and was surprised to see Baker looking frightened and worried. "Steve! You're alive!" She cried with relief.

"What's going on?" Steven muttered numbly.

"Everyone's dropping dead." Baker said, looking around. The hallway didn't look quite full. Everyone was in a panic, talking to each other in high-pitch shrieks. Steven spotted a girl named Kelly pointing into a classroom with tears falling down her cheeks as she talked to one of her friends.

"Mr. Pollard's dead." She was saying.

"Susan and Brian are dead!!"

"Spencer!! NO!"

Steven saw Sarah Schmidt walking down the middle of the hallway, her face was sunken and her eyes weary. "Why would God let something like this happen?" She muttered weakly before collapsing onto the floor.

Seeing this only reminded Steven of Jennie. She'd been Sarah's friend. And Steven felt his insides twist with a horrible realization. Was Jennie okay? What about Jacob and Cameron?

"We have to find them." Steven gulped.

"Who?" Baker looked at him.

"Everyone." Steven said. "We have to make sure they're still alive. This was Kira's doing."

"But Mrs. Beeson said—"

"Mrs. Beeson is dead too!" Steven shouted at her and he felt a huge bubble of compressed anger suddenly burst inside his chest that he'd been keeping inside of him for so long. Anger toward Mr. Redman. Anger at himself for betraying Jennie. Anger that someone had just killed off most of the school's population in one go. "We have to find them and get out of here!!"

Baker looked frightened but nodded feverishly.

"Where is Zito's class?" Steven asked, looking around.

"Zito's…dead." Baker muttered.

Steven blinked. "Right—right. Where are Jacob and Cameron's classes?"

"I don't know." said Baker, looking down sadly.

Steven silently cursed. How could this be happening? This wasn't supposed to fucking happen! And as they ran down the hallway of scared looking students not knowing what to do, Steven allowed himself to think harder on this matter. He had to figure this out. Why was he still alive? Was there a purpose for leaving certain students alive? This was definitely the work of a Death Note. Someone, somewhere out there wanted the school to suffer greatly. They probably selected students at random and killed them all. So Steven was lucky to be alive. Or was he? He couldn't think straight. None of it made any sense at all. How could someone else have a Death Note? A third Death Note? Had Ryoku broken the rules and taken another one to give to someone in order to defeat Steven and get Zando? Or…

And Steven remembered being in Mr. Goodboy's class with Mr. Redman finding out that he suspected Jennie. No. That wasn't possible. There was no way Jennie had a Death Note. She was against Kira's beliefs, right? She could've lied… But she's Mormon! You sold your friends for the Death Note, she could've sold her beliefs…She's not that kind of girl!! How would you know that? You hardly know her at all… But the picnic… The picnic is a distraction! She probably knows you like her…No! No! No! You never did see those other six videos Mr. Redman had of Jennie. Maybe he was right. Maybe he saw her writing in a notebook…I would know if someone else was killing criminals out there… Would you? Can you really keep track of all of them? You don't watch the news everyday… No! Jennie can't be the killer. She can't!!

But his mind was arguing with him the whole way as they searched the bottom floor and didn't find Cameron, Jacob, or Jennie. Baker, of course, had no idea that Steven was looking for her but he needed to find her. He needed to make sure she was alright too. And he needed to make sure she wasn't the killer.

If Jennie is dead… said the wicked little voice in the back of his head …then she isn't the killer. No! She can't' be dead and she isn't the killer! Then who else could be? Andrew's dead. Zito's dead. Katlynn's dead. Mr. Redman doesn't have your Death Note. Nobody does. And you saw her that one morning with a notebook, but you didn't go see her… She's not the killer!!! You're blind because you love her… Shut up!

Steven spotted Cameron and Jacob up ahead. Jacob was on his knees, kneeling over someone. "Cameron! Jac…ob…" Baker's voice fell as they arrived on the scene. Jacob wasn't crying, but he didn't need to be. Steven could see the sadness in his eyes as he stared down at his dead sister, Kirsten, in his arms.

"I'm so sorry, Jacob." Cameron said weakly.

"We've got to get out of here." Baker said.

"No." Steven said fiercely and they all looked at him (except for Jacob, who only had eyes for his dead sister)

"Why not?" Cameron asked, glaring at him in bewilderment.

"There's still someone else I have to find." Steven said. "You guys can go—go wait for me outside. The police will probably be here any minute."

"Who are you looking for?" Baker asked.

"Nobody you know! Just go, okay?" Steven begged them, desperate to keep searching upstairs for Jennie. "I'll be fine. Kira already killed everyone he needed to. He left us alive; he wouldn't kill us randomly now."

"We'll be in the parking lot with everyone else." Cameron said, nodding.

"Thanks." Steven told them. He didn't care where they went. He didn't if he ever saw his friends again. He needed to find out what was going on. The police would, indeed, be coming. And Steven had yet to see any teachers anywhere. The killer must've killed them all too. Jesus Christ. Whoever did this knew that the school would be in disorder and wouldn't know what to do. A flock of sheep without their Shepard are easier pray for the wolves.

He ran upstairs. He had no idea where Jennie's sixth period class was. But he was determined to find her. And he would do everything he could to get to the truth. The media would have a hay-day with this. Whoever killed all these people, there was a chance that it wasn't someone who went to Hazen. It was all over the news how their school was suspected of holding Kira. Anyone with a Death Note out there could've seen this and used it to their advantage, kill as many students and teachers as possible but leave some of them alive so that they can be the suspicious ones. But Steven very much doubted this. This couldn't be random. The timing of the murder was just too perfect. Whoever did this knew what they were doing and knew what they had in their hands. It wasn't just some new guy. It had to be someone at Hazen. Someone like Jennie…

Steven closed his eyes and shook his head. He was only suspicious of Jennie because of what Mr. Redman said. He wondered what Mr. Redman would say now? Damn it!! He thought angrily. They'd just been cleared of all suspicions and now this happened? It had to be someone who went to Hazen—to time the killing right when Mrs. Beeson made that announcement…

Now the school really would be the main center of suspicion. Everyone left alive would be interrogated by the government for sure. Steven wondered if any of the government officials were dead as well. He hadn't seen any of them. Not even Redman.

But Steven could worry about what the government would do later. He had to worry about himself right now. Just to make sure, he opened his backpack as he ran and felt the inside where he kept the Death Note. It was still there. Good.

He zipped it back up and continued running. He thought about calling out Jennie's name but was suddenly swept with the urge not to find her. If he went through all the trouble of making sure she was safe…that would look suspicious considering they were hardly friends. Jennie considered them friends though…but were they? Steven imagined himself kicking open a door and finding Jennie looking helpless on the floor somewhere, completely innocent of being the killer, and Steven announcing that he was there to save her.

Now wasn't the time to be day-dreaming. If Jennie was the killer, Steven needed to find her. He could find her and act like he was really just looking for his friends and then lead her outside. He could ask her questions along the way…

…But what if she really was dead? If she was dead…

Steven felt overcome by this. Whoever had done this must've done it for some sort of purpose. If Jennie was dead… And then he heard it. The sound that made his heart stop and his mind go fuzzy. Jennie was screaming.

Steven ran faster than he could ever remember running down the empty hallway. He recognized the scream somehow. Even though he'd never heard her scream before, he knew it belonged to her. Jennie was still alive.

And he came to a screeching halt in front of a door that led into a language arts classroom. Jennie was crouched against the wall staring at something in front of her with a wide-eyed look of terror. Steven's joy of knowing she was alive was short-lived when he came upon this scene.

"Jennie?" He said, surprised at how hoarse his voice was.

Jennie looked up at him. "S-Steve?" she muttered.

Steven wanted to say something—anything, to comfort her and make her feel better and to explain why he was there but nothing came to mind. Seeing her looking so hurt had punctured a hole inside of his lungs and stopped him from being able to say a damn word.

Jennie sniffed and wiped a tear from her eye, standing up shakily. Steven stepped forward and helped her up, not caring that this was the first time he'd actually touched her hand. Everyone in the classroom was dead in here as well. Including the teacher. Steven could see her pointed shoes somewhere in the shadows. The lights were off and Steven figured that the class had been watching a movie on the projector. Poor Jennie looked like she had been the only survivor of the mass killing spree in her class. Everyone dying so unexpectedly in front of her must've scared her half to death.

Doesn't it strike you suspicious that she was the only survivor in this class? The little voice in his head said evilly. But Steven had also been the only survivor in his class. It must've just been luck.

"This was Kira, wasn't it…?" Jennie said weakly as they left the class.

"Yeah. Everyone's gathered up outside." Steven told her, finding his voice again. "We should go there too."

Jennie nodded.

They didn't share any words on the way downstairs. The school was filled with echoing shrieks of panic and crying girls. It was strangely empty. So many rooms filled with dead bodies. Steven wondered how much of the school had actually survived. They would find out when they got into the parking lot.

Steven looked sideways at Jennie. She was holding herself and looking sick. Steven, again, wanted to say something to her but nothing he could say would be able to comfort her. How could he have suspected her? Jennie was no killer. And yet Steven still felt painfully guilty for some reason. Like he had been the one to kill everyone so suddenly. But this wasn't his fault. He'd never planned to do this. Someone else must've. Someone who wanted Hazen students to be suspicious as Kira. But who? Who the hell could it be?

"Thank you for finding me." Jennie muttered as they walked outside.

"I was just looking for…anyone I could." Steven said weakly. "I heard you and…It's not like I was about to just leave you there or anything…"

Again, Jennie said nothing. Steven wasn't sure why it was so awkward all of the sudden. Had it always been this awkward between them? He wondered, vaguely, if they would still be going on that picnic tomorrow… Probably not…

When they got out into the parking lot, Steven saw a crowd of scared looking students all talking loudly to one another. Steven hoped that Jennie would stay with him as they looked for their friends, but as soon as they got there, Jennie shouted "Schmidt!" and ran forward toward Sarah who was sitting on a bench looking just as forlorn as before, though at least conscious this time.

Steven watched Jennie leave with a sinking feeling in his chest. He felt like he'd just gone through hell and back to get her out. But she was already gone. With a small thank you. That was it.

When he rejoined Cameron, Baker, and Jacob, he saw that they were all looking sad about something too. "Hey…" He greeted them quietly.

"Did you find who you were looking for?" Baker asked.

Steven hesitated for a moment before shaking his head. "No. She was dead…"

"I'm sorry, Bush…" Baker muttered.

Jacob had Kirsten in both his arms, looking determined to get his sister's body out of there. Cameron was slouched next to a tree with his hands pocketed and looking around worriedly. Steven knew that he was probably searching for his twin brother, Bryce. But Steven had a vivid image of seeing Bryce's body on the ground while he had been running around with Baker earlier. He didn't have the heart to tell Cameron and decided to wallow in his own grief like everyone else. There was nothing else he could do but consider himself lucky that he was still alive and hope that Jennie wouldn't forget about him. What would happen now?

And then he saw them. The police cars and the ambulance pull into the parking lot. The crowd of students parted and allowed them through and Steven recognized the black cop who had investigated the break-in at Steven's house yesterday there as well. Steven stayed back and stayed quiet as the cops asked questions from the crowd and the ambulance went inside the school. It was already too late for them, though. Everyone inside was already dead.

About twenty minutes later news vans had come onto the scene and Steven watched as a few students were interviewed and asked about what happened. But they all had the same story. Steven waited with his friends the whole time outside, watching everything happen. Jacob decided to walk home with Kirsten's body in his arms. Cameron was picked up by his mom and parted with them. Baker, too, found a group of her friends and drove off. Steven was left alone, watching and thinking in silence as everything unfolded around him. By the end of the day, the world would know that Kira had killed 80 percent of the school's students and all of its teachers and employees.

"This sure is hell, huh." said a voice behind Steven as he stood there and watched. He turned and saw Mr. Redman leaning against the side of a shiny, black Cadillac. The one man he didn't want to see.

Redman was smoking a cigarette and was just putting the lighter into his pocket, a smirk on his face as he looked up at Steven and released a bellow of smoke into the air.

"What are you doing here?" Steven asked somberly.

"I just went out to get a bite to eat." Redman smirked.

"I suppose you think me and Jennie are still the prime suspects, right?" Steven sighed.

"No." Redman said, looking down at his feet. "I believed you—what you said—about Jennie not being Kira. I, personally, don't think she's the type to do it either. Most of those other videos just showed her talking to her friends about Kira, that's it, really."

"So you really did believe I was Kira, then?" Steven asked.

"For a second or two, yes." Redman said.

"That's why you broke into my house?"

Redman blinked. "What?"

"You broke into my house looking for evidence." Steven said, fully facing him. "But you didn't find anything and that's why you figure I'm not Kira, right?"

Redman was staring at him like he'd never seen him before. "I'm sorry, but I have no idea what you're talking about."

Steven stared at him. Redman couldn't be lying. Why would he? But then... He looked down, not understanding anything anymore. None of it made a single, damn bit of sense.

"Why don't you suspect me anymore, then?" Steven asked after a minute of silence.

"Because, Steve…" Redman sighed, taking another breath of his cigar. "I believe that you want to catch this Kira guy just as much as I do."

Steven looked up at him and their eyes met. "I do." He said firmly.

Redman stared long and hard at him for a second and Steven wondered if those piercing, blue eyes of his could read his mind. Finally, he said "Would you be willing to do anything to catch Kira?"

Steven didn't expect this and thought for a moment. Was Redman offering him something? "Why?" he asked.

"No reason…"

"Liar."

"I'm good at that." Redman smirked. "I'll be seeing you around, Steven…"

Steven said nothing and watched in silence as he threw the cigar on the ground, stepped on it, and clambered into the black car behind him. Mr. Redman drove off and left him there alone in the parking lot, feeling more confused than he'd ever been before.

He turned around and saw Jennie standing with all of her friends talking amongst themselves about everything.

She's so far away… Steven thought. They weren't really friends. To her, he was just some boy she barely talked to in second period. Nothing more. She had her friends. There would be no picnic, not after something like this. The School was going to close down, that was for sure. He was never going to see her again. And she didn't even care.

The walk home was long and hard. And even though the sun was blazing high up in the sky, Steven felt a cold feeling in the pit of his chest. Everything had fallen apart so quickly. He wept silently the whole way home…

Author's Note: There isn't going to be a chapter for a while, I'm going to be rereading this to collect data because, as you can probably tell, the story's going to be coming to a close soon and I need to prepare for the final few chapters.

During the wait, however, I would really appreciate a lot of reviews because I worked hard on this story and I would love to know what you guys think about it! Thank you