𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓼𝓲𝔁
—𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦—

     𝓞𝓭𝓮𝓽𝓽𝓮 𝓱𝓪𝓭 𝓸𝓷𝓬𝓮 went to a party with Claire during her freshman year. She hadn't really wanted to, but Claire was so sure that just going would open her up to the idea of being around people. The brunette wasn't excited to say the least, but agreed once Claire had pouted enough.

One thing she always remembered— very vaguely, in fact— was the loud music blasting through the speakers. It resignated throughout the mansion, accompanied by the laughter and yells of everyone she had ever known at the school. She had smiled to herself, despite finding the stench of alcohol absolutely repulsive. The stench— nothing— mattered in that moment, other than the time she spent having fun and making memories with her best friend.

The repetitive sound of gunshots down the hallway was just as loud as the music. And this time, Odette didn't find herself smiling. She didn't talk the night away like she had done the night of that party— the night she met Brent. Odette wasn't filled with joy in the slightest.

Jaycey Landon is the first student to move from their seat, taking action immediately. The girl shoves back from her chair, frantic to open the door to the storage room behind her. It was quite unfortunate that the seniors had no true adult to look for as they heard the massacre begin, only a mere hallway to their right.

"Hurry, everybody get in!" Jaycey says, her dark eyes expectant as the teens begin to file in hurriedly. "Odette! Is there anyone in the hallway?"

As Odette always memorized, Jaycey was the type of girl to take over in tough situations. She carried the weight in projects, anyone could tell by taking one glance at her. She stood prominent, beautiful in the most powerful and selfless ways that no one else ever had. And when she gave the others protection— thinking about them before herself— didn't shock the brunette in the least.

Odette is out of her seat in an instant, the panic hitting her square in the chest. Cries were already heard from behind her, but she couldn't focus on that now. She needed to help Jaycey, and anyone that was in the hallway. Odette quickly cracks the door, peeking to her right, then to her left. A girl, who looked to be a freshman, was cradled at the door of the locked bathroom, tears falling down her cheeks as the gunshots started up again; closer this time.

The blonde wasted no time in rushing from the room and over to the girl. She wraps her in a tight embrace, breathing heavily as she sobs into her chest. Odette sends Jaycey a short nod as she helps the freshman into the closet with the others, moving back to the door again.

"I . . . " Odette looks to Jaycey, not knowing how she would finish her sentence. "I need to help others in the hallways around us. I'll be back, okay?"

What surprised Odette the most was that no one else, not even one of the overconfident football players, stepped up to help her. And as she met eyes with her classmates, she recognized a look of utter terror and fear. Odette knew how they felt.

But she wasn't scared to die.

"Odette," the dark-skinned girl stops her, grabbing Odette's wrist gently. "Be safe out there . . . come back."

Tears began to well up in her eyes as she stared at Odette. She pulled her into her arms, squeezing tightly before letting go.

"I will," Odette assures her, calming herself in the process.

Odette was in the hallway once again, but moving faster than she had before. She runs into the next hallway, hearing yells as groups had tried to find their way into a locked classroom. Her heart was racing, and the blood in her veins seemed to burn as she ushered the loud bystanders into a janitor's closet.

The brunette fit in as many of them in the closet as she could, finding Carter Florian among the many. He looked relieved to see her, moving by her side without any sign of hesitation.

"Where's Brent?" Odette asks over the chaos, her eyes searching for him.

"He left the classroom," Carter replies, his hands shaky. "My class managed to get out after the shooter left our hallway, but I came looking for Brent."

"Where would he be?" Odette murmers under her breath, only having a moment to herself before one last gunshot sounded. She pulls herself from the transe, leading the rest of the standing students down the next hall, and into an open and abandoned classroom— the one where band practice took place after school hours.

She tucked them away safely, trying to soothe as many as she could before she allowed them to slip through the windows, and race as far away from the grounds as possible. All the while, Carter stayed attached to her side, helping in the only ways he could.

"Call the police," he told them. "Call your parents, and let them know you're okay. Just . . . get help."

They urged them to be quiet as they left the room, locking the door behind them. Carter and Odette could have left. They could have been safe, and decide to not risk any more than they already had. But instead, they took to the halls once again- to protect anyone and everyone they could.

"I have to go back to Jaycey," Odette tells Carter, stopping in her tracks. "I need to get them out, they're the last class in the hall— I have to—"

"Odette!" Carter whispers, his hands landing on her shoulders as he stares into her eyes. "We've helped as much as we can, we need to get out of here. Going back will get you killed."

Odette's breath catches, the oxygen draining from her lungs as her lips parted. She was finally realizing that this wasn't just something that she could throw around; this was a real situation. She could die trying to save her classmates. Her best option, in order to stay alive, was to evacuate the building along with the two ending hallways.

But she wouldn't.

"In this harsh world full of monsters," she says softly, pausing to flinch as the shots begin again, "I want to be brave."

"Odette, please, come on. We have to find Brent and Claire, we—"

"Go," she says, staring behind him. "I'll be okay, Carter."

And with that, Odette Carswell is gone, and already moving to the hallway she needed to get back to. The hallway that held her friends she left behind. The hallway she felt she needed to get back to.

The hallway that held August Teegan, a gun in his right hand.

_______