Death's game

Chapter 25~ danger

I didn't waste a second, I tore after him as he ran down the hall and turned the corner.

"DAN! Wait!" I yelled after him as I whirled around the corner and kept running.

"I can't!" He yelled, not even looking back, his voice cracking with desperation, "I can't take this anymore! I'm not gonna be a killer!"

I knew arguing wouldn't stop him, I'd have to catch him and physically force him to not leave campus. Larissa didn't know the stakes of keeping him from leaving.

Dan kept running, bursting out the front door and sprinting across campus with me close behind. My blood was pounding in my ears and my breathing was beyond accelerated.

The campus edge was rapidly approaching as we ran like crazy, Dan keeping a good few yards ahead of me.

"DAN!" I called again, screaming it out as loud as I could, "STOP!"

He ignored me and kept on going, charging toward the edge.

I pushed myself as hard as physically possible, trying desperately to catch up but he was faster and stronger.

Pulling to a halt at the edge, I watched in horror as Dan kept going, running toward nowhere except away from FoxFoot Academy.

I heard the bang of a gun going off, I couldn't tell where it was from as the sound echoed throughout campus. Dan's back arched and he cried out in pain before collapsing onto the pavement.

"No..." I whispered, dropping onto my knees as tears welled in my eyes, "no!"

The moonlight lit up the pavement as a glistening pool of red began to form. He lay motionless, his empty eyes gazing lifelessly up at the full moon.

I sighed in painful defeat as I fell back onto the grass and sat there staring in a memorized state of disbelief. It felt surreal to see someone I knew and was friends with laying on the ground across the street, dead with a bullet in his back.

My breathing had turned ragged as a lump formed in my throat and tears streaked down my cheeks.

I didn't know what to do, what to tell Larissa. I knew it would crush her, he was her everything. I couldn't face her, not tonight, instead I decided to sleep on a bench outside the cafeteria.

/*\*/*\*/*\*/

When I woke up I had about a billion missed calls from Larissa and countless texts. All of them asking about Dan.

"I'm so sorry." I whispered, thinking about Larissa.

There was no way I could explain it to her, I just had to avoid her because the price of her knowing was something I couldn't pay.

Taking in a long breath, I headed to home room; a place I hadn't been in a very long time. For being at a school, I hadn't gone to many classes.

Many people stared at me as I took my seat on the couch in the back with Will. There were whispers, people no doubt wondering what'd happened to me and why I was back now. Not to mention I probably looked horrible from crying and sleeping on a bench.

Will put his arm around my shoulders, looking me in the eye, "hey, you ok? You look like you've been crying."

It hurt to lie to him but I had to, "yeah, my uh aunt died. My parents called last night and I didn't get much sleep."