Operation M.I.A: Missing in Action (IN NEED OF REVISING)

Chapter VIII

Luke turns around to see this man when he notices me doing the same, and the first words out of his mouth are, "Uh oh. Badass alert," to Heath and I. The three of us start snickering at this remark.

"He's giving me the chills," Elle whispers, her eyes wide open in fear.

"I wonder why he chose that kind of outfit, of all things. You'd think he wouldn't want people to notice him," Mia inquires.

"Maybe he wants the attention. Or he's the dad of some rich girl on one of the dance teams. Who knows," Mackenzie snorts.

"Well, whoever that guy is, I don't trust him one bit," Shanna whispers, shaking her head.

Anyway, the guy just stands there, smoking a cigar (even though there's a sign right next to him that says "No Smoking"), not giving any regard to people walking near him. He doesn't even take a seat; he just stands there creepily in the back corner of the auditorium. All eighteen of our eyes are locked on him, but he doesn't seem to give a single shit.

And then he does a quick left-right, like he's making sure no one's watching him, and then walks right back out of the auditorium.

"I doubt he's up to any good. We should tell somebody," Shanna suggests.

"Better yet, let's go find out for ourselves," I shrug, standing up. I can easily sense a moment of indecision in almost everybody else before they get up and join me as well.

We follow the man at a precise distance- close enough to keep him in our sights but far away enough so that he doesn't notice us. He takes a pretty roundabout route throughout the studio to end up near a pair of doors in a dead end hallway. Across from the doors are a soda machine and a random table that doesn't seem to have any real purpose. We poke our heads around the corner and watch as the man does another check to make sure he isn't being followed (which he is, but pssh, how would he know), and then walks right through the double doors.

"I'm surprised he didn't notice us. Nine people is way too many people to be sneaking after somebody without risk of being spotted," Skylar mutters.

I hold up a hand to hush her, and then quietly walk over to the doors, the rest of the group in tow. Both of the doors have a small glass window that allows me to see what's inside.

A large gymnasium of sorts, with several of the dance teams inside, practicing.

"What are you seeing, Sam?" Heath asks.

"I think it's safe to assume that this can only end badly," I mutter.

Long story short, I'm right.

SEAN

Music: Stage Boss from Gradius V

Suddenly, I hear a clicking on the other side of the room. A clicking that can only come from a gun being prepared for usage.

"That can't be a good sign," I mumble. Mia and I crowd together to look inside the room through the other available window. The view is tiny, but it's enough to be able to tell what's going on.

Girls start screaming and running, despite not really having any place to hide. The man's holding his gun (about the size of an assault rifle) at his side, walking through the crowd of girls.

"He's got a gun!" Mia yells. The following few seconds are filled with panic and worry.

"Can you see Avery in there?" Shanna asks, inching through people as she tries to get a good look at the unfolding terror.

"I can't tell!" Sam replies.

The man continues walking until he reaches the center of the gym. Without speaking or making any other sound, he points his gun upward and fires at the ceiling. Debris falls and one of the ceiling lights flickers a few times before eventually going out. Then he points his gun at a group of girls cowering together. They all let out screams and break apart from each other, all running in different directions. That's when the man starts firing at various targets.