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Chapter 7

Eric's POV

"Mary, are you almost ready?" I yelled up the stairs. She had been with us all weekend and I still haven't figured out the reason for her visit. I would like to believe that she came all the way from Buffalo just to see us, but I knew in my gut that that wasn't the reason for her visit. Even after the few months she has spent with my parents, I still don't feel like I can believe a word out of her mouth. Whatever her crazy reason is, she has her sisters in on it. She's been attached to Lucy at the hip all weekend and Ruthie has been mum about the whole thing. It's not like Ruthie to keep information to herself. It must be something big. Maybe once Mary is back in Buffalo I can corner Ruthie and get the truth out of her.

"Coming Dad," Mary yelled before appearing at the bottom of the stairs with her bag. I grabbed the bag and headed for the front door. "Wait. Mom's getting the boys ready. She wants to ride along."

"Okay," I sat the bag down on the floor as we waited for Annie. I decided to give it one more try. "Now that this visit is over, do you want to tell me the real reason you are here?"

"I already told you. I wanted to see you guys. I didn't get to come home for Christmas, so I decided that the next extended vacation I got I would come see you." Mary told me. It always amazed me how horrible at lying all of my children are.

"Fine, don't tell me. I'll just ask Ruthie." I warned her.

"Go ahead. Ruthie doesn't know anything."

I couldn't decide whether this was another lie or not. It would explain why Ruthie hasn't said anything to me about Mary's visit. "You know, I will find out one way or the other."

"Yes, but once you do I will be safely back in Buffalo. Besides, I have a feeling that when you find out, I will be the least of your worries."

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" I asked as Annie and the boys came down the stairs.

"Everyone ready to go?" Annie asked as the doorbell rang.

I reach over to the door and turned the knob. I opened the door revealing Sergeant Michaels. His face was blank and my heart leapt into my throat with the realization that something was seriously wrong. "Eric, we need to talk."

"Is something wrong?" Annie asked cautiously.

"I'm afraid so," he answered.

"Is it one of the kids?" I asked. I had a bad feeling about all of this. "Was there some kind of accident?"

"It's Lucy and Simon." He told us and Annie gripped my shoulder hard. "I don't know many details or if they were hurt. All I know is that they are in danger."

"What kind of danger?" I asked frantically.

"Now don't panic. There have been some reports of three boys at the high school with guns. Shots have been fired, but we aren't sure how many victims there are."

My eyes grew wide as I heard the news. I thought that our problems with kids having guns were over when Johnny was sent to juvie. I had figured that sergeant Michaels was implying that our children were in a car accident. I would have almost preferred that. At least then we would know what we were facing. With this, we really had no idea. They could be fine, but then they could be lying on the school floor dead as well. Annie's grip released from my shoulder and she fell to the floor shaking. I pulled her into my arms and held her tight.

"Calm down Annie. We don't know if Lucy or Simon was involved in this." Sergeant Michaels tried to calm Annie down.

"Calm Down! Calm Down! You expect me to calm down when my babies could be hurt or dead?" Annie yelled, frantically.

"Do you think you could drive us over?" I asked him.

"Sure," he reach out his hand and together we helped Annie off the floor.

"Mary, I know you need to catch a flight, but could you possibly stay with the boys until we can get someone else?"

Mary was shaking as well, but she calmly answered. "Sure Dad. Just go. I can take care of the twins."

Sergeant Michaels and I helped Annie out to the car and we sped down the road with the police sirens blaring. I could only think of one thing to do: pray. Lord, I know your listening right now. Please keep my babies safe.

Matt's POV

I can't stop thinking about Lucy. I know I should be listening to what my professor is saying, but I just can't get Lucy out of my mind. How did I let this happen? I'm supposed to be the big brother. I'm supposed to be able to keep these things from happening to my younger siblings. She's way too young to be a mother. I don't know how we are going to tell Mom and Dad. They are going to be so disappointed. I should have sensed that something was up and forced her to talk to me about it. She shouldn't have had to go to Mike to talk. She should have gone to me. I should have made it clear to her that she could talk to me.

"Isn't that right, Mr. Camden?" I came out of my thoughts to find my professor standing in front of me.

"Sorry Sir," I told him as he made his way back to the front of the class.

"Get your head out of the clouds Camden. This isn't daydreaming 101." He glanced up at the clock on the wall. "I want everyone to have chapters fifteen and sixteen read by next class. You can expect a quiz on the material. Class dismissed."

I fled the classroom quickly before I could have another confrontation with my professor. I get the feeling that he doesn't like me that much and the last thing I wanted was to have to talk to him again. I headed across campus to the student center. I had an hour before my next class started and I found it pointless to go home. I hadn't eaten breakfast that morning so I figured that I would stop by the student center and pick something up.

I grabbed a bagel and looked around the room for somewhere to sit. For the first time I noticed just how crowded the place actually was. I had never actually seen so many students here at once. Of course that could be because I hardly ever come here. Everyone was crowded around the television and I was rather curious as to what was going on.

I spotted my friend Vince and took a seat next to him. "Hey, what's going on?"

"I figured you would be at the high school." He told me.

"Why would I be at the high school?" I questioned.

"You haven't heard?" He asked incredibly.

"Heard what?" I asked. I was becoming nervous. Did the crowd around the television have anything to do with the high school?

"There are three guys at the high school with guns. The news is reporting that several students and teachers have been shot and the shooters are still inside." He told me.

My eyes grew wide as his words sunk in. "I got to go," I stammered as I got up and raced out to my car.

Annie's POV

My stomach churned as we stood outside of the high school. I watched in horror as students were filing out of first story windows. Other worried parents surrounded us and news cameras were everywhere. Why must this be broadcast by every news station? Shouldn't we be shielding our children from this kind of violence? I know the news needs to be reported, but this constant coverage of school shootings must give kids ideas. At the very least, it somehow glorifies this action.

"The shots have stopped. It's been confirmed that those responsible have shot themselves. We're going to clear everyone out of the school and release them to their parents. Then we will be able to get the paramedics inside." Sergeant Michaels informed us.

Eric held me close as some of the first students ran out the front door and rushed towards their parents. My fear grew as neither Simon nor Lucy came out. Lord, please let them be okay. Just let them be okay. More students filed out of the school. Simon and Lucy weren't with them either. My stomach knotted tighter with each group that emerged. Where are my babies? Are they hurt? Are they dead? The thoughts swirled in my head. "Eric where are they?"

"I don't know, but I'm sure they are fine." He rubbed my back as he held me closer. "We just have to have faith."

"Mr. and Mrs. Camden?" I turned towards the voice. "I'm sorry to bother you, but I'm Mike's mother. You haven't seen him have you?"

I shook my head. "We haven't seen Lucy or Simon either." My hands were shaking as I thought of the possibilities.

"Let's all just calm down. I'm sure that they are all together and they are all fine." Eric told us as Sergeant Michaels approached us once more.

"Any sign of the kids?" I asked him.

He shook his head. "We didn't run across them when we were evacuating the school. The good news is we haven't come across them in the injured kids either. We're going to look again. We'll check every room and every closet. Don't worry. We'll find them."

I breathed a small sigh of relief. At least they hadn't been found amongst the dead or the injured. Of course that didn't mean that they had found everyone who had been injured. I prayed again. Please let them be okay. I don't think I could handle it if something happened to either of them.

"Where are Lucy and Simon?" Matt rushed up to us.

"They are still inside. We think they are with Mike. Sergeant Michaels is doing a complete sweep of the building." Eric answered, calmer than I would have been.

"Pierce?" Matt asked and Eric nodded. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Can you pick up Ruthie and take her home? Mary has a flight to catch and I need someone to get home and stay with the twins." I told him, my voice cracking.

"Are you going to be okay?" Matt looked at me concerned.

"I'll be fine once I find out that my babies are okay." I told him. "So just go and get Ruthie and watch the twins. We'll call you when we find something out."

Matt's POV

Obeying my mother's commands, I headed for Ruthie's school. The parking lot was unusually full as several parents exited the school with their children. I parked the car and headed inside to get Ruthie. I signed the sign out sheet and waited for her to appear in the office. A couple of minutes later, she was by my side and we were heading out of the building.

"What's going on? Why is everyone getting signed out? And why are you here instead of Mom and Dad?" Ruthie questioned me. I didn't think it would be a good idea to explain it to her here.

"Just get in the car." I told her. "I'll explain everything when we get home."

The ride home was silent. I made sure to avoid the high school. The last thing I wanted to do was frighten Ruthie. I wanted to break the news to her gently. I allowed my mind to drift into prayer. Please let them be okay. I don't know if our family would be able to survive if one of them died. At least Mike is with them. Or at least everyone thinks he is with them. I wonder if Lucy told him yet. God, please let her have told him. Mike would do anything to protect Lucy, especially if he knew she was carrying his child.

We arrived back at the house and were greeted at the door by Mary and Robbie. "Have you heard anything?" I asked them.

"I just got here," Robbie told us. "Some guy told me what happened after class."

"Mom and Dad haven't called." Mary told me. "The twins are upstairs napping. I called the Colonel and told him I was going to stay here a while. He wanted to come out, but I told him to wait and see what happens first."

"You can bet he will be on the next plane out." I told her as we stepped inside.

"Will one of you tell me what is going on here?" Ruthie asked impatiently. I had almost forgotten that she didn't know what was happening with Lucy and Simon. "And where are Lucy and Simon? Shouldn't they be here?"

"Ruthie, why don't we all talk in the living room?" We headed into the living room and sat down. Robbie sat in the chair while Ruthie, Mary, and I took a seat of the sofa.

"Is something wrong with Lucy and Simon?" Ruthie asked.

"We don't know for sure," Mary answered, softly.

"What do you mean you don't know? How could you not know?" Ruthie panicked.

"Look Ruthie, someone brought a gun to Simon and Lucy's school." I told her calmly.

"What? So they were shot? They're dead? What?" Ruthie let the tears fall from her eyes.

"We don't know sweetie. The police are inside the school now. A lot of people were hurt. The school was evacuated, but they still can't find Lucy or Simon." I told her gently.

"You're lying…" Ruthie cried. "This is just some cruel joke."

"I wish it was, but it's not. We need to keep praying that they are going to be okay." Mary pulled her into a hug in an attempt to comfort her, but Ruthie pushed away from her and ran up the stairs.

I started to go up after her, but Robbie stopped me. "Let me try."

I didn't have the energy to stop him. I watched him head up the stairs before turning to Mary. "This seems so unreal. Yesterday I was so angry at Lucy because of the baby, now they both may be gone."

"Yeah, it does. I just hope Simon, Lucy, and her baby are okay." Mary answered.

"Me too, but even if they aren't shot, the stress of this whole situation isn't good for Lucy or her baby." I paused, trying to think of something to keep the conversation going. "They can't find Mike either." I told her.

"Lucy was going to tell him about the baby first thing this morning." Mary told me. "Do you think she got to him before the shooting started?"

"I hope so. You know, I really wanted to pound him when I found out what happened with Lucy. Now, I just hope she told him and that they are together and safe." I told her.

"I have a feeling that if Lucy and Simon are with him, then they are safe." Mary told me as Robbie walked back in.

"I tried. She wouldn't talk to me. She said she wanted to be left alone." Robbie sat back in the chair.

I nodded. "We'll give her some time to calm down and I'll try to talk to her again later."

Please push the little review button and leave me your thoughts. I also want to say Rest in Peace Beverley Garland aka Ginger.