cherry (h.s)

three

sorry for the wait..here ya go.

//

Charlotte Thompson

I'm not good at keeping secrets.

I've found that the longer the authorities don't find Styles, the harder it is to keep the information I know contained.

I didn't know if Styles was the one who was responsible for all the other murders...but I did know that he killed someone. And he stuffed their body in a dumpster.

It was haunting me, knowing what I knew.

I was having an internal battle that was ripping me apart.

Should I tell the police? My parents? Should I shut up and move on?

I've never had this type of weight on my shoulder before. But maybe I'm just overthinking.

"What's going on with you?" Zoe asks me as we walk through the mall together.

I snap back into the real world. "What?" I shake my head in confusion.

"I said," she furrows her brows. "what's going on with you? You're being weird."

I clear my throat. "Nothing. I'm just kind of...out of it today." I explain.

"No kidding." she mumbles.

It took a lot of convincing for my parents to let me go to the mall with Zoe. She wanted new shoes, and she wanted me to keep her company.

We've been strolling around the mall for about an hour now, casually popping in between stores to kill some time. It was a warm, sunny day, I didn't want to be at home so I thought it was best to stay out for as long as possible.

It's been about three days since the club incident happened...and being cooped up in my house was only trapping me with my thoughts. Going out was good for me.

Or so I thought...

...because the next thing I knew, a cracking, ear splitting sound ripped through the bottom floor of the mall. Then, screams erupted throughout the building. I look around, trying to figure out what's going on as Zoe stands beside me, just as scared and confused.

My eyes land on two men. One with a gun pointed above his head, towards the ceiling where he had fired. A black bandana covered his nose and mouth. The other stood next to him, a gun in his hand as well, but his face covered with a white bandana. All I could see were their eyes. Both had their hoods up. I look up, seeing the other floors of the mall. A man, in a green bandana was peering over the second floor...while a man with a blue bandana was on the third.

The black bandana's eyes drifted to me, I froze.

I felt a tug on my arm, and suddenly I was being pulled across the shiny tiled floor of the mall by Zoe, who brought us both into a store. We hid behind a shelf while people around us scattered in panic. I couldn't feel anything. The fear hadn't sunk in yet. I look over at Zoe. She was crying. Her curly black hair hung over her face as tears slid down her dark skin. She looked terrified.

We were crouched behind a shelf in a bookstore. Neither of us knew what was going to come of this.

I might not make it out of here alive.

There were a few other people in here, also hiding. I couldn't tell where the shooters were. Hopefully they didn't see us run in here amid all the panic and frenzy.

They shot the gun to trigger the panic. There was no other reason. They wanted people to be scared.

"We have to get out of here." Zoe whispers, causing me to look at her with wide eyes.