I quickly scribble down some ideas in my trusty notebook. My plan is simple, yet effective. It only takes one shot to kill someone, and I have proven that I can do that quite well. All I need to do is break into the mayors house where he will be, then hide. When he comes near and is alone, I'll shoot him. Yes, I am aware that there are many things that could go wrong with this plan. Someone could spot me. The bullet could miss. He could overpower me. Despite the obvious risks I know I have to try. I have to avenge Nicole and Dallas, as well as all of the other kids who were killed at the hands of this man. If I go down, I'll take him with me.

That night was the first night in about a week that I had slept in my own bed, and it felt great. Unfortunately, in the days that followed, I didn't sleep too well. I kept expecting to be woken up by screams and gunshots, but when nothing came I became nervous and on edge, because I kept expecting it. In between worrying about that issue, I had nightmares. Really bad nightmares. Most of them were simply reliving Dallas' death over and over again. It seemed that everytime I closed my eyes I saw his body slumped on the ground, motionless. There were other nightmares too, about my own death, reliving the failed escape plan, and in one particularly terrifying one, I was the leader. I always woke up shivering and soaked in sweat. I never told my parents about my nightmares because they wouldn't get it. Like I said before, my parents and I don't exactly have the type of relationship that allows us to share our feelings with each other. Not to mention I don't like sharing my feelings in the first place. I don't want them to think I was going crazy, and have me see a shrink. My parents kept attempting to talk to me about it awkwardly, but I shut them down pretty quickly. All of the kids involved got a week off of school, so I didn't have to deal with my classmates asking questions. So I spent my entire week just relaxing. I didn't see Luke much, but we texted everyday. I spent a lot of the time watching Youtube, working on my story, and reading. For a little while, I would almost feel like a normal teenage girl. One who hadn't been held hostage, who hadn't been beat up, who hadn't been forced to kill her friend, and who didn't have nightmares every night about said killing. Of course, the reality set in, and I knew that I would never be a normal teenage girl again.

Monday came around, and I dreaded going back to school. I normally like school, but I didn't want to go through the halls with people staring at me behind my back. I also wanted to avoid being asked any questions about the experience. I wasn't sure if I could hold myself together if asked. However, being asked questions was unavoidable, and I was sure that at least one insensitive person would ask me. I went through my normal routine, mildly surprised at how robotically I went through the motions. I suppose even though I hadn't gotten ready for school in two weeks, my body was still on auto pilot. As I walked out of my house and headed towards the bus stop I felt a growing sense of panic. I could not get on that bus. I would not get on that bus. Without even thinking about it I turned around and started walking in the direction of the school. So what if I was going to be late. There was no way I was ready to ride a school bus.

About forty minutes later I arrived at the school and stood in front of the entranceway. Gathering up my courage I pushed the door opened and stepped inside, expecting a hush to fall over the whole foyer. Instead, almost no one paid attention to me. I walked across the foyer as quickly and inconspicuously as absolutely possible. As I walked I noticed some of my classmates stare at me, then whisper to their friends. I walked faster. My goal for today was to avoid as much human confrontation as possible. I soon made it to my locker and opened it, not really thinking about the combination. I couldn't help but notice how much my hands were shaking. I looked down the hallway and spotted my group of friends coming towards me, including Luke. In that moment I realized something. They don't know what happened to Nicole and Dallas, unless Luke told them, which I highly doubt he did. That meant that I would have to be the one to explain to them what had happened. I wasn't sure if I should tell them that I killed Dallas. Perhaps they deserve to know, but I don't think I could handle the looks I would get. Soon the whole group was right next to me. I looked at them, and they looked at me as we stood there in an incredibly awkward silence. All of a sudden I was practically tackled by one of my very enthusiastic friends, Mia. As she went in to hug me I instinctively tensed up. Even before the incident I didn't like getting hugged, and after the week I had, and remembering what happened to Nicole, I liked them even less.
"Celia! We were so worried! Are you ok?" Mia asked me, and I immediately felt the groups eyes fall on me. Was I ok? Hmmm, considering I took a forty minute walk rather than take the bus because I was going to have a panic attack, and I killed my friend a week ago, no, I was not alright.
"Yeah I'm fine Mia." I mumbled and slowly pried her off of me.
"So, everybody is wondering, where is Dallas and Nicole? Didn't they come back with you guys?" Mia asked and once again all eyes were on me. I should have known it was going to be Mia who asked me. She always does blurt out whatever is on her mind, even if nobody else wants to hear her talk. After seeing the look on my face she drops her gaze and twirl a lock of hair around her finger nervously.
"Well... this is pretty hard to say." I started, and looked to Luke for support. He nodded his head as if to say "keep going". I took a deep breath and continued.
"Guys, Nicole and Dallas are dead."

For a couple seconds there was silence. Once again, Mia broke it.
"Are you serious?" She asked in disbelief.
"Why would I ever lie about something like that?" I replied wearily. Mia looked up, and I saw tears in her eyes. In fact, looking around at the entire group, they all had tears in their eyes.
"How did they die?" Sam, another one of my friends, asked quietly. I hesitated before answering.
"Nicole, well she was sexually assaulted then killed. Dallas, was killed by the leader." Behind the group I see Luke's eyes widen and I silently plead for him to stay quiet.
"How can you say that so calmly? They were our friends!" Mia cries. I guess I forgot how my matter-of-fact tone might sound to my friends. I open my mouth to answer her, but Luke beats me to it.
"Celia and I have had a rough time. We have seen a lot of death, and we are both having a hard time coping. She didn't mean anything by it." Luke says, and I see Mia's face soften. Before there are anymore questions the bell rings, and I let out a sigh of relief. I open up my locker again and pull out my books. If before school was any indication of how the rest of the day will go, I have a long day ahead of me.

So Celia has decided to lie about killing Dallas. That's going to come back to haunt her. Thanks for reading, and if you enjoyed this chapter remember to vote and comment.
Cat