Filed to story: Brace Face Betty Drama Story
I charge him, grabbing for the rifle. The metal is warm and deadly in my hand, unrelenting. Leon has a firm grip on it, though, the weapon braced into his shoulder, locked against his body. I drop the empty gun, freeing up my other hand, and I drive a right hook into his ribs, trying to wind him. I wind him, all right, but Leon’s a stubborn bastard. He doesn’t let go. Staggering backward, he slams himself into the book stacks behind him, and Kacey screams out in pain. She falls to the floor, whimpering, scrambling away as I kick out at Leon’s legs, trying to take him out at the knees.
For someone so resigned to die, Leon sure puts up one hell of a fight. He’s desperate as he twists his body, struggling to aim the rifle at Kacey.
“Just her,” he grinds out between his teeth. “She’s the only one that really matters.”
“LEON, STOP!”
Everything happens in a blur.
The deafening bang.
The blow to my ribs.
Leon slumping to the ground.
The cold, wet chill that spreads outward across my chest.
I stagger back, stunned at the sight of Leon sprawled, glass-eyed, on the floor.
“What the…fuck?”
I look at Kacey, and her mouth is open, tears streaming down her face. She’s holding the gun I dropped in her hands. “God, I’m sorry, I…I don’t know what happened. I shot him. I shot him!”
I hold my hand to my chest, and…it comes away red.
The pain kicks in, just as I look down and see the small, smoking hole in my sternum.
Turns out I was wrong.
The gun Leon dropped outside the library wasn’t empty after all.
I just forgot to check the chamber…
BETTY POV
I’ve been climbing the walls, straining to listen, to hear anything for minutes now. Long minutes that have surrendered nothing but silence. At some point, not long after I let Jake into the booth and I watched him whimpering on the floor, I realized that I couldn’t let my fear control me anymore. Marcus didn’t fucking blink before he went back down there, determined to help. What good am I here, locked away in a glorified closet, when he’s out there, risking himself for us?
“Fuck this. I’m not waiting here another second. It’s been quiet for too long. Something must have happened.” I head for the door, but Jake jumps to his feet, barring the exit. “You’re not going anywhere. We have to stay here and wait for the cops,” he growls.
I realize something else, as I look up at him, into a face that has scared the shit out of me for so long now. I know that I’m not scared of him anymore. “Don’t worry, Jake. No one’s expecting you to go out there and act. If anyone asks, I’ll be sure to tell them how bravely you handled all of this. Now get out of my way.”
“Sit down, Betty.”
I won’t sit down. I won’t listen to him anymore. No way in hell am I going to let his cowardice prevent me from trying to help in any way that I can. I stand my ground, folding my arms across my chest. “Move.”
Jake looks at the other two girls. Funny how he doesn’t seem so untouchable now. “She’s right, Jake. It’s been quiet for too long. Something must have happened. We should go and look.” Sophia’s the last person I expect to say this, but she seems a lot calmer now. She comes and stands beside me. Alicia swears unhappily, but she joins her friend. Then it’s us three girls against Jake.
“You’re all fucking insane,” he spits, moving out of the way. “Be my guest. Go out there and get yourselves killed. See what difference it makes.”
He doesn’t follow us out. The door slams closed behind us, and the king of Ravenshire High locks himself back in the booth without another word.
We tiptoe through the music room and down the stairs, and that’s where we see the first cop. Relief surges through me, making my legs turn to Jell-O; I’ve never been so happy to see a badge and a gun in all my life. “Any of you hurt?” the guy calls, hurrying toward us.
“No. No. But there are others,” Alicia says. “The library. Have you checked the library? We heard most of the shots in there.”
“The EMTs are in there now, dealing with the casualties. Head outside, girls. There are blankets and more ambulances. You’re probably in shock. Your parents are on-hey! Hey, where the hell are you going?”
I’m not heading outside. No fucking way. If most of the shooting took place in the library, then that’s where Marcus would have gone. I’m running at top speed before I even make the decision to bolt. Alicia and Sophie both shout after me, but I don’t hear a word they say.