Past and Present

One

I look to the right, I see darkness. I frantically dart my eyes to the left, I see people huddling around in a corner, crying. I look forward, and I see a man pointing a shiny, metal pistol at my forehead.

"You hear me, girl?! You tell me where it is, or I swear to fucking god I will blow you to pieces." He screamed, looking directly into my eyes.

I let out a loud laugh. A disturbing laugh, the kind of laugh that you hear in the movies that gives you shivers and nightmares. For some reason, I was not intimidated by the potential death that was kind enough to give me a nice long stare.

I smiled crookedly, "Let's just say that it is hidden somewhere where you or anyone else, who is shitty enough to even try, will never find it."

It was obvious that the man was taken aback by the comment, and his anger took over his abrupt actions. Causing gasps and screams, the man pulled the trigger down. An ear-shattering bang echoed through the large, darkened room. This is it. This is where I die. I would send my farewell to the world, but its been quite the bitch to me. So, I guess, this is just goodbye in general.

~~~~

The body slumped over onto the ground. Blood was rapidly seeping out of the wound, making some of the other people make an off putting gagging noise. The people who were huddled up in the corner were sobbing, and screaming from the sight of the young teenage girl who is supposedly dead now, heaped over in a puddle of blood.

All of a sudden, the doors slammed open, and a group of men swarmed in. They were all shouting to get down, while pointing there weapons at the man who just shot the girl.

"Drop your weapon!" One of the men screamed.

The guy disobeyed and decided to take a shot at the man. Fortunately, he missed. As soon as he pulled the trigger, the other man crashed his finger down onto his own finger. The bullet flew out of the gun, planting itself into the guy's head, instantly killing him.

One of the men saw the girl slumped over, bleeding and barely breathing.

"We need the medics!" He hollered over to people who were at an ambulance.

The medics came sprinting in with a stretcher. They easily lifted the almost dead girl onto the stretcher and began running again. The ambulance's siren blared through the street as it was turned on and the blinding lights were moving in circles. The medics lifted the girl into the back of the ambulance, then getting in. The ambulance frantically sped off, in desperate need of getting to the hospital to save this girl's life.

~~~~

There was a dark, dusty janitor's closet in the middle of a two story high school, and a typical looking high school girl gasping for air in it. She is currently having a panic attack. Unable to keep her desired control, she desperately reached up and accidentally knocked down a shelf, scattering all of its contents onto the concrete floor. Her eyes darted from wall to wall, looking for an escape. Managing to even out her breathing slightly, she stood up, straightening her posture.

With her breathing now completely normal from her fast recovery, she grabbed her bag and put on a fake smile as if she was not just sprawled across the dusty floor for five minutes feeling as if she was going to die. Her tan hand reached for the door knob as she released a quiet sigh. Returning to her usual scowl, she slowly creaked the door open to see that all of the students have abandoned the hallways for their classes. She cautiously slid out of the closet. Once the door was successfully shut, she was about to turn around and head out of school, even though, she did not even attend the first period class.

A hand slapped the wall beside her head, making the girl practically jump out of her skin.

"Damn it, do you always sneak up on girls and then scare the shit out of them?" The girl snapped as she connected eyes with the guy who was pinning her to the wall.

"Your name is Maria, right?" He asked.

"Could be." She mumbled in response.

"What were you doing in the janitor's closet?" He plastered a smirk that said I-know-what-you-were-doing.

"Doesn't matter." The girl sternly said while shoving his arm out of the way, leaving the scene.

"Don't get me wrong or anything because that is one of my favorite places to do it, but were you seriously having sex in the janitor's closet? Wow, how cliche." The guy laughed out as he walked beside you.

The girl stopped in her tracks, turning to look the guy directly in the eyes, "You want to know what is cliche? The stuck up asshole, badass of the school skipping class. Seriously, did you get your fucking life out of a chick flick? Now if you don't mind, I was on my way home. So, if you would kindly fuck off, it would be greatly appreciated!"

For a brief second, the guy was stunned at the abrupt outburst, but soon returned to his usual tough demeanor. He put his arms in the air for surrender at what the girl said.

"Damn, someone has a feisty attitude. All jokes aside though, you are the new girl. Is your name Maria?" The guy asked.

"Nah, my name is Bitchy Fuckface." The girl sarcastically remarked.

"Aw, she has a sense of humor. Good, I like it." He said.

"Why should I tell you my name, when I have no idea who you are." The girl reasoned.

"Fine, Fine. My name is Mopey Marlin, nice to meet ya!" The guy smiled.

"Tell me your actual name and then I might consider answering your question." She challenged.

"It's not that easy, Bitchy Fuckface." He teased.

"Why? It's just a name." She asked.

"Exactly, it's just a name. So, tell me your's." The guy smirked.

"Nah, man. It's not that easy, like you said." She joked and then turned to leave.

The guy grabbed her arm, holding her in her place to make sure she did not walk off.

He sighed, "My name is Aaron."

"Astrid." The girl mumbled almost inaudibly.

Aaron's eyes widened in amusement. He dropped his hand and laughed loudly, clutching his muscular stomach.

"Like in 'How To Train Your Dragon?'" He asked through chuckles.

The girl's eyes narrowed, making her eye twitch. Her intimidating facial expression caused Aaron to stop laughing and look genuinely worried.

"Woah, man. It was a joke." The guy surrendered again.

"I know. I have to go, bye." She claimed.

"Alright, bye. Oh and just so you know, I'm not the school's badass. In fact, I was not even skipping class. I was coming back from the restroom. I will introduce you to my friends tomorrow. I think you will like them." He said, leaving the girl to stare at him as he walked away.

What just happened?

~~~~