SayHappy: Lol, doe doe bird. XD I'm not that good, honestly. I feel flattered though. :) Aw, thank you. That- gah! It makes me so damn happy it's not even funny. :') I'm truly elated that you enjoy my story so much. I hope you think this chapter is good enough.. Blah. Ha, anyway, thanks again. :)

SomeoneFromEarth: Ya, I can't have it dramatised all the time, you know? Though, this chapter might fool you. XD Thanks for the comment. :) Oh, and trust me, I don't really have much talent. Thanks so much though. :) I use to when I was younger, but I damaged my leg so many times now, that now every time (even on scooters) it's hard to push with. Sometimes my leg gets so bad that I can't move. I literally have to endure pain just sitting down. It sucks, but what can you do? :)

CrystalXRose: Aw, thanks. I was going for that. :P Thanks for the review. :)

Kaci12: Agh, I'm glad it was. :) Ha, I'm the exact same though. On Sunday night to Monday morning I didn't get any sleep at all, but luckily last night I got a few hours. It's hard to get back into a routine. :/ Gosh, I really wish people would stop saying that! I'm really not. Well, I don't feel like I am, but it's what I like to do, so I shall keep doing it. :) Thanks for the review. :D

Tomaaat: Ha, ya. That was the idea. Imagine Jack hugging her and then Edith going by and it looks like Sophie is just hugging thin air. Oh man, that would be hilarious! :L No problem. :) It's so sad though. :( Thanks for the review. :)

NightPantherIsMintMoon: I agree with you! :/ I wish school didn't give us homework. We had to do hours of work in school to go home and do it some more? Kind of sucks. :L Oh well. :) Aw, thanks. Same to you. :)

Snowflake Anon: Ya, I didn't want her to hide Jack all the time, so I thought it best if her parents knew. At least now she can be somewhat normal with Jack around her parents. :) Ha, I invented akward.. XD (Not really... Well, yes, sort of. Sorry, I'm being awkward right now.. I'll just leave now...) :P

Guest: I shall, I shall, I shall. :P

Snowflake: Agh, I know right? Blah, moms! :P Yup, both of them can be very smooth sometimes. :') haha... Oh them. XD Yay, glad you think it's romantical. :P :P Ya, I just imagined if I was Jamie and my younger sister was dating one of my closest friends. I'd be kind of peeved off a little (or a lot!). Ya, especially because he realised that. So sad. :( And hell no you can't... (unless you're forty and claim to love a six year old.. O.O) I'm so weird... Sorry! XD

Black-Death-646: I attempted to in this chapter. Hopefully it's not as bad as I feel it is. :O Ha, ya. I always imagined her being good at it. :') Jack can't be great at everything, you know? :P Thank you! :') I shall keep going! :D You are actually so nice... :')

Guest: Two days into school and it sucks already. :( :( Gross. XD Also, thanks. :D

Luna Frost: Yayayaaya! :') I'm glad I started to give you this OTP now. :D I ship this pair so hard. :O Thank you so, so much. :') Ya, I may be a little slow at updating now, sorry. :(

xxx I'm a Rebel xxx: Lol ya. Sparkly teeth, must be a good brand he uses anyway. :P

Guest: ... YOU KNOW NOTHING! XD Thanks for the review. :P :P I'm glad you think so. :)

Leslie: Aw, thank you. :) Meh, it's average really, not really talent, but thanks. :) Gr, I know. I'm so mad that Jack isn't real. Why do they have to make a cartoon character like him? They're messing with teen girls across the GLOBE! :| Ya, I thought it might be better that they know like. Hm, I'll just let itself play out. :) Oh, it is indeed though. :O

Wow, most reviews I've ever got on a chapter! I'm so flattered and happy right now. I really hope this chapter is okay because I'm honestly having doubts about it. Gr, just read and let me know what you think! :) Thanks again for the reviews guys! :') They really, really do mean the world to me. :) Anyway, let's continue with the story...

Saturday morning. Ugh.

I did not want to go the Mall at all today, but I couldn't back out on Edith. Ugh, and she wanted me to get a boyfriend? Well, isn't that going to be complicated...

The Mall is big enough in my town. I met Edith out by the fountain- and oh god. She brought a group. Why? She knows they don't like me very much (okay, they think I'm weird because I listen to awesome bands like Paramore and All Time Low). The only one who could ever stand me was Ethan, and thank the lord, he was there too. At least I'll have someone to talk to while Edith was flirting with boys.

Ethan Browning. He's basically the definition of a male model or something close to that.

He has tanned skin, dirty blonde, cropped hair, always spiked up. He had sea green eyes. He wore a muscle shirt and a pair of shorts. He was easy going, and thankfully, he shared the same music interest with me- which is how we first got talking. Ever since we've been really good friends. Unlike the others here, he was very much tolerable and not so full of himself. He was also very funny and witty too.

Edith saw me walking towards them and ran up to greet me. "Hey, Sophie. I wasn't sure if you were coming or not!" she says. "Hm..." she began to inspect my outfit. (DON'T JUDGE ME) I wore a dress she had gotten me. It was a blue, strapless dress which came just above my knees. Jokes on her though, I wore my sneakers with it. She spotted them and narrowed her eyes a little. "I'll give you a B plus," she eventually said. Yes, she does grade me on how I dress. She was a fashion freak. She turned around, looked in some direction and them smirked.

"Ethan can't take his eyes off of you," she said, triumphantly. As though there was something to be triumphant about? God. I love her and hate her at the same time. She knows I don't like Ethan, and I really doubted that he liked me either.

"Oh, be quiet," I snapped, but she just smiled more.

"But you two would be so cute together-"

"I don't think so-"

"Yes, you would!" She said firmly. "Now, come on. We're going inside."

... ... ... ... ...

Now, things were going okay- well, as okay as it could be in a mall when you hated shopping and most of your friends friends. So... I'm gust saying it was okay. It was endurable I guess.

Endurable, right up until disaster sprung.

Ethan had come over to me, just to talk as we always did. "So, is Edith annoying you about us being cute together, too?" he laughed. I went a little red, honestly. I wish I could tell him I was kind of (but not really) with someone else.

"Ya, a little," I admitted, nodding my head.

"Okay, you are one of my best friends, and I'm going to tell you something that no one else knows, and you have to swear not to tell a soul," he said, looking at me sternly. I got nervous and felt flattered at the same time. He considered me to be one of his best friends? Well, that's new. I swore and he took a shaky breath. Ethan and I were sitting on a bench while everybody else went off shopping and whatever. Honestly, I think sneaky Edith left us alone together on purpose. "I... Man, this is harder than it seems," he shook his head in disbelief. "I'm... I'm gay."

I didn't exactly conceal my look of shock very well. I mean, it's Ethan we were talking about here. Never in my life would I have expected this to come out of his mouth. Ever. I guess I knew why he was nervous. If the others found out they wouldn't exactly be as nice to him, would they? I wish people would stop being against gays. I mean, a humans a human no matter what gender they like. Love is love.

"Okay," I said. "A small bit shocking, but not a big deal."

A look of relief swept over his face. If I was the only one who knew, it must have felt a hell lot better to get that off his chest.

"I'm glad you feel like you can trust me," I smiled at him, feeling warm inside. "Now, come on, let's go find the others."

We both rose, but stopped when a loud bang echoed through the crowded mall. Everybody around us had froze. My ears were ringing from the unexpected bang. Then, there was another one. That's when people began to panic. It sounded like... My throat got very dry all of a sudden. My heart began to pick up speed, hammering itself against my chest.

"EVERYBODY DOWN!" Came a roar.

Shrieking, I fell to the ground, pulling Ethan down with me. Oh god. No way, no way could this be happening. My hands were shaking as my nose rubbed off the tiled ground. I looked over at Ethan who looked pale and scared.

"I said down!" came a raspy second voice, followed by a loud bang and a scream of terror.

I felt a sob rising up in my chest. Oh god. How many more gunmen were there? This... No. This wasn't happening. Any minute I'd wake from this nightmare. Oh man. This was not good at all. I could hear the men walking around, the click of the guns, the eerie silence sweeping through the Mall broke by the sob of little children. I feared for the kids. What if the men became agitated by their sobbing and decided... I shook off that awful thought.

A man came running in, carrying what seemed to be an AK47. Oh god. There was a lump in my throat as I held back the sob, my head was sore and I was very dizzy. The bang still rang in my ears, a silent buzzing getting louder as the minutes crept by.

"It's not there," he whispered to the man closest to me.

I kept my head down. The man swore and kicked at the nearest person to him: me. I groaned, but did nothing more. I didn't want to give the man a reason to shoot me. My side ached from where his foot met my ribcage. Great, that was going to leave a mark. I clenched my hand into a fist.

"Kane said it would be here! Where is that- where is he?" the man snarled in response.

"Who knows, man?" the other replied. "Kane never sticks around. He makes us do the dirty work-"

The other man who had kicked me caught the guy with the AK47 and gripped his shirt tightly. "Shut your mouth you retard. Kane finds out everything we said and he'll kill you. So shut your mouth." The man lessened his grip on the man and pushed him away from him. Both men looked scared. How bad could this Kane guy be? He must be pure evil... OH MY GOD! Evil!

Why hadn't I thought of it?

Evil was inside each of these men. My heart picked up speed and my palms began to sweat. I felt like I was going to be sick. How the hell was I going to get out of this? Panic surged through me. There was no Jack here to help me. Just Ethan. I looked over at him. He had his head looking down at the ground not willing to look up from fear that the men might do something evil.

"Look, it's not here, we should just leave, Hawk," the man with the AK47 muttered.

"Are you serious? Keep looking you moron," Hawk said darkly. The other guy stalked off, not really attempting to avoid stepping on people.

I forced myself to look up at Hawk. He saw my head movement and looked down at me, his eyes full of hate and fear.

He pointed the gun at me. "Keep your head down, bitch," he told me. The sight of the gun froze me. One blast and I was gone. I sobbed and looked back down at the ground. There was no possible way we were getting out of this. And the door was so close. Surely someone heard the gun shot. Maybe help was on the way.

And I was right.

Squad cars pulled up outside the Mall. Families walking by peered in at us in shock and fear. Everything came back to fear right now. The fear I felt, the fear everybody lying on the ground felt, the fear in the gunmen's eyes and the fear of the passer-bys. The cops were saying something, calling in at us, but fear had clogged my mind and I felt numb. So many people had gathered around by now.

"All right! Listen up everybody!" Hawk yelled over the commotion of the outside. Eyes nervously veered up towards him. His hands were shaking. He was nervous, way too nervous. When everybody around his area were looking up he began to talk again. "We've come to a bit of a crisis. Everyone of you stand up now. Go on, get up." We all nervously got up, looking cautiously to one another. "It's your lucky day. You lot get to go. Someone tell the cops we have no plans on getting out of here. Oh... and we're keeping one of you. We always need a good hostage."

I felt the colour drain out of my body. Okay, I was unlucky, but no way was I that unlucky.

To my surprise, he grabbed the girl on the other side of him by her hair and held the gun to her head. "Now, get out, all of you or all of you get shot."

"Becca!" A boy exclaimed. I was guessing it was her boyfriend. He ran towards her. Oh god. Stupid boy, what was he thinking?

Hawk was quick. He got the gun, aimed, and fired.

It felt like it had all happened in slow motion. The bullet went through him and he staggered a few more steps before falling to the ground. The girl he held screamed, as did a good few of us. I didn't hesitate. Maybe, maybe if we were lucky the cops could help her. I had to get out of here. But, I felt like a coward. I didn't like the situation I was in.

Wincing a bit, knowing that this was a terrible idea, I sat back down.

Ethan tried to get me up. "What are you doing?" He sobbed.

Oh god. He was right.

Please, I'm begging you. Don't judge me on my actions, but you don't know how terrifying this was. I couldn't stay here.

I got up, and began to cry, allowing myself to be dragged out of the Mall by Ethan.

Once outside, it felt like my horrible nightmare had only vanished for a little bit. "Ethan," I sobbed. "I- I have to go home!"

I didn't give him a chance to say anything, and ran off away from the chaotic scene around me. I felt like a coward. But I knew if I had stayed I could of got the girl and I both killed. But still. That decision would haunt me until the day I die.

I burst through the front door and slipped to the ground, and cried.

My mother came in, her expression was confused and shocked. I rarely ever cry in front of my mother.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"I just saw someone being murdered at the Mall, Mom," I cried. My mother looked at me in horror. I told her from the beginning what happened. I had to stop every now and then because my voice would crack from the fear I had felt. Images of the man being shot played through my mind, over and over again. I remembered the gun being pointed in front of my face.

I told her my terror, and the weirdness of him letting us all go. Now, I know that he probably knew he was defeated, but it was... odd. It's not like the cops could do anything while we were all inside with the gunmen anyway. I had a feeling this was all Evil's fault. In other words, this was not yet the worst of what was to happen to me.

Something flew through the open window (always opened for Jack if he ever wanted to come in).

It was him.

"Something happened at the Mall. I didn't see Sophie so... Oh my god, Sophie. Are you okay?" He asked. His face was much paler than usual. He didn't even care that my mother was there, he just came over and hugged me tightly. He pulled away, examining me, making sure I wasn't hurt or anything. (And he called Mund protective- not that I cared. I thought it was sweet that he cared about me).

"I- I'm fine, Jack," I said through gritted teeth, wiping my tears away and holding back another sob. (Honestly, what was with me lately? I seem to be always crying- although, this time I think it could be excused). I took a shaky breath. "Sorry, I just want to go to bed. I..." my voice cracked. Honestly, self, keep it together. Everything is going to be all right. I hope.

"Do you want me to stay with you-? Uh, with your mothers permission of course," Jack quickly added.

My mother looked pale, and frightened for me and the other victims in this place. This was all happening right now and I knew it was my fault. I felt like I was a danger to everyone. And what about Edith? I hadn't seen her since she left Ethan and I alone. Was she okay? I felt like a terrible friend and person just running off from the scene like that. I should have stayed. The guilt was building slowly up inside me. Why did I only think of myself in all of this? I was a horrible person. That girl he has hostage (if she's still alive) is going through hell right now and I just left. I thought of my safety and vacated the scene. God, the guilt was already eating me up inside.

"It's okay," my mother said softly, looking at me in concern. "I don't think Sophie should be left alone at a time like this. Dear, make sure to ring your friends and make sure they're okay too. I can't- I don't want to imagine what you all must be feeling like right now."

With that, I left my mothers side. Leaving her felt a little hard, but being with Jack made it a little easier. I could see something deeper in my mothers brown eyes. She was thinking of something different than what she had said. Maybe it was that there was a possibility I could have not made it home today. My stomach twisted into a knot at the thought. What if he had pulled the trigger and left me for dead?

When I walked into my room, closely followed by Jack, I began to talk. "I think this has something to do with Evil."

"What happened there?"

I explained to him what happened like I had done with my mother. When I was finished, he looked so shocked and relieved at the same time. "I'm so glad you're okay... I'd hate it if Evil..." his voice faltered and he looked away from me, his expression looked dark and cold. "Anyway, the main thing is that you are okay. You're here. But I agree. This is evil, so therefore Evil is involved somehow."

"It was so scary," I whispered, thinking about it all through my mind. I held out my hands, not even giving it a second thought. He looked at me with empathy and hugged me again. I needed to be comforted right now. I needed Jack and I needed my family. Why can't anything ever go perfect in my messed up life? For once I just wanted things to go perfect- fat chance of that happening.

"Look, tomorrow I'm going to North's. You are staying here. I have to tell them what happened and how it links with Evil. I'll be back again before, hopefully, ten. I know it's only five in the day, but I think you need to rest. You look like you're about to be sick," he told me, with his arms still wrapped around me. Honestly, that's how I felt. Sick. Sick with guilt, fear and sadness. Great, my favourite combo (you should really get my sarcasm by now).

"Stay?" I asked him.

He nodded, and I walked to my bed, not letting go of his hand.

This time I fell asleep facing him, holding his hands, afraid to let go.

I didn't want fear to take over my life, not now, not ever. I wasn't going to let Evil get the better of me just because the guardians cared about me. I was going to show that he couldn't ruin my life- not completely anyway.

I was going to find, even if it did kill me, a way to destroy Evil for a long time.

Was this boring? Sorry if it was, but as I said, writers block. Meh, I have ideas, it's just getting to those ideas that's the problem. Hope I'm not boring ye too much. XD :) Anyway, review for more guys. Man, I really do love your comments. :)