ECHO...
Oliver reached the library before Emma did, and already surrounding it when he got there was SSD student after SSD student.
What the heck were they doing!?Oliver wondered in his mind. Why aren't they moving in!?
A senior stopped him by the arm before he could move in himself, and he gave her a look that could have shot the blood out of the faint-hearted.
The senior, a girl of dark skin and darker hair, merely grinned. "Whoa there tiger. You ain't getting' anywhere near there lest the boss says so."
Oliver knew her. She was one of the trainers back at summer camp. Lydia James. "Cardor said to move in!" He defended, trying to take him arm back from her hold but all for moot. When it came to true blue jocks, he was weaker by a fraction.
Lydia shook her head. "Not Cardy! The guy standing behind you is who I was talking about."
He paled. The only one higher in SSD command than Cardor was the eldest heir. The only one that could actually expel a student for merely stepping on his shoes by accident. He turned his head tentatively, body not moving even though Lydia had let go of his arm, and standing five meters away from him, a male version of Lydia standing behind him, was a senior that stood like a giant yet was no taller than 6"4. His face could have won at poker merely by holding four tens and an eight.
It wasn't what he did but how he does it that would always freak the lower years. Even Aaron wasn't an expression. When Oliver turned to his friend for assistance, the clubber was already gone, joining the line of other sophomores to avoid gaining attention.
Oliver gulped, before cocking his best grin. He failed. "G-good afternoon, Zack."
Zack nodded acknowledgement, then, in a familiarly cold formal tone, said, "Stay back. That's an order."
He looked away. "I'm sorry, but that's my friend in there, and I want more than anything to be help her."
"Going in there alone won't help her in the least." Zack answered.
"Then get a team together! Let's shoot that culprit with numbers! She's only one person, isn't she?"
"Even if we enter by the thousands, there is no guarantee that it will secure her safety!" Zack chided. "We are dealing with a megalomaniac teenager with a personality disorder. Once we open those doors, we're practically telling that girl to kill Cho on the spot! You will--"
"But there has to be away!"
"Shut your fucking mouth while I'm talking!"
A silence wafted in the air when Zack raised his voice, Oliver clamming his mouth shut instinctively.
Luke and Lydia, twins, stood uncomfortably from the two.
Zack glared at Oliver when he continued. "There are a million possibilities of this going wrong, and we're doing the best we could until the real authorities come. After our fireworks incident last week, stuff like this is out of our hands. Believe me, this is the best we could do. The best you could do at the moment would be to join the other students in surrounding the place and make sure no one comes in or out."
Oliver looked away in defiance to his words, his thoughts strong yet caged. Every moment spent doing nothing was another moment with Kat's life in danger fear and possible death. He didn't want that. He didn't want his friends to be in such situations. If anything were to happen to Kat and he knew the best he could was to stand around... he would never be able to forgive himself.
Worse still, what of Emma?
"Get in line, sophie." Zack ordered in much softer tone.
He trudged off to stand next to Aaron, but even with the once-on-a-blue-moon pat of console from the clubber, he couldn't feel anything more than contempt. For himself, everyone else, fate, and the stupid situation he was in. Why couldn't he do anything more?
There had been times when he found himself unable to do the littlest things, having to rely on almost everyone around him just to accomplish a small feat. Even when he let go and went wild, he relied on Aaron to physically steady him with a good punch. Emma was always there for the smallest things to the biggest problems, even when things never went for the better. Like their play about Echo when Faint stole the limelight and left at the last minute. He was downright furious, but Emma was there, and though the play was a failure, she was there for him the whole time, and that counted for something special.
He breathed in, and prayed for a miracle.
"Stop!"
Oliver looked back just as a familiar figure in gray passed him in a blur. The next thing he knew was that a wrecking ball hit him without mercy and toppled over him with a PG expletive.
Emma fell on her knees as soon as she entered the library. Her breathing was harsh, so much so that she was having a hard time hearing whatever commotion was going on outside. She was still panting when she tried to stand, tripped twice more before she finally got a hold of herself and managed to walk in a straight line. Yet still her mind was spinning.
She's never ran as fast nor long she did, and she was starting to regret it. Her vision was getting blurry and her body felt too hot for the autumn weather. She had to hold herself upright by holding onto the tables and shelves. Her chest was showing no sign of calming down.
God, how I hate physical labor... screamed her subconscious, wanting to heed to her body's request to collapse.
She ignored whatever it was her body wanted and placed her mind over matter. Her impetus was Kat and Kat alone.
She gulped down a breath before toppling over the next table, and smiled when she saw the staircase leading to the second floor, where Kat should be. Her mind should really be focused on the danger lurking right next to her friend, but she couldn't. Her friend was dear and close, and she would never forgive herself if something had happened to her.
As she waded like a sloth through the shelved hallways of the library, the memories resurfacing without her consent.
"May I help you?" Kat had stated then with her quiet voice. Even back then, the future wallflower disliked how good her hearing was.
She remembered smiling friendlily before sticking her hand out. "Wanna be friends?" God, she had been so awkward. She wasn't used to making fiends on her own back then.
From surprised, Kathad suddenly looked suspicious.
She remembered the dejection in her little girl's voice. "You don't wanna?"
Kat shook her head first, before nodding, then shook her head again. Emma inwardly laughed. Emma never met anyone else that seemed so conflicted at the time.
"Hello?" Emma called.
Then came the questions. "Firstly," The girl stated in her quiet tone. "Why?" Then she raised a second finger. "Secondly, do you even know who I am?"
"Well, I just want to start making friends is all. And, I guess I only know you as the girl who's always earlier than me, and aside for that, nothing else." She remembered how dumb her approach was. "Sorry."
Then Kat smiled, a warm, tiny smile that was with her since. Her hand had been so warm then, even until now.
"Katalin Cho. Kat for short."
Emma grinned. "Emily Anderson. Emma for short."
She staggered toward the top step, breathing finally calming down, eyes returning to normal. She looked around, but there was nothing to see. A few CCTVs were broken in the corners, their static flashing brightly every once and a while, but she wasn't scared of that. There were sprinklers ready to set off in case of the slightest smoke. No, what she was really afraid of was whoever it was that was waiting for her.
She took a step forward, her voice cracking when she called, "Kat!"
Thena loud, horrible cackle echoed through the darkness.