Melody's POV
I should have something was off the moment I stepped onto campus. The sky was still. The air felt... pressed down. Like I was holding my breath. But I didn't question it. I had lectures to attend, an aching back from all that cleaning, and a job offer that might change everything. My head was too full for gut feelings.
Then the heard the shots. Bang! Bang! Bang!!!. Each sound is louder than the last.
Screams destroyed the silence. People ran in different directions, bags abandoned, shoes left behind and book flying.
I took the effort to run despite my fears and anxiety.
Gunshots. Real ones.
This wasn't a drill. This wasn't someone playing games. This was death lurking in area, taking people's lives.
I ran fast as I could as if I was running a 100 meter race. My lungs tightened because I'm running of free air. I run so fast that I didn't see where I was going. Not even the broken pavement in front of me.
Crack!
My foot twisted. My balance gave away.
And before I could scream, I fell head-first against the metal railing.
The world stuttered.
Sound dulled.
My vision blurred. As I lay there, barley conscious, I saw him. A shadow stepped out of chaos. He was masked. All black. Tall. Confident steps. But it wasn't his face I noticed. It was his arm. His tattoo.
A sunny-dark tattoo inked symbol.
The exact one I saw on the bridge the day my parents were murdered. Burn into memory like a scar.
I wanted to scream. To move. To do anything. But my body wouldn't listen. The last thing I saw his eyes narrowing as he looked straight look at me like he recognized me, too.
Then everything went dark as if earth switched off its light.
Hard. Cold. Final.